Seven of 25 samples of aquatic products examined last month were found to contain small amounts of a banned fungicide, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Friday night.
The samples of tilapia, grouper and threadfin fish that were contaminated with malachite green had residue amounts of around 0.002ppm — the maximum level acceptable in the EU.
Taiwan’s food safety law bans the presence of residues of malachite green in aquatic products sold locally.
The toxic chemical, used to treat external fungal and parasitic infections on fish and shellfish, has been found to harm animals’ livers in laboratory tests.
Hsu Ching-hsin (許景鑫), a DOH food safety official, said the contaminated aquatic samples were collected from seven places, including a farmers’ association supermarket in Taitung County, a seafood restaurant in Kaohsiung County, a fish market in Chiayi City, a Carrefour shop in Taipei City’s Wanhua District (萬華), a department store in Taichung County, a seafood restaurant in Taichung City and a coastal fish market in Keelung City.
Even though the contaminated fish might have been consumed, Hsu said the DOH would track all related suppliers, which could be slapped with fines of between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000 if they are found to have illegally used the fungicide for disinfection.
Hsu said public health and fishery administration officials would be required to cooperate with the DOH in tracking down suppliers of contaminated fishery products.
Meanwhile, officials from the Fisheries Administration said the banned substance might come from groundwater used in fish farming or from residues of contamination incidents reported in 2004 and 2005.
Officials said, however, that it was premature to speculate on the cause of the contamination before aquaculture farms involved in the incident are identified.
As to whether the contamination could affect Taiwan’s fish exports, the officials said of the three contaminated fish species that only grouper was on the export list, with Hong Kong as a major market. Hong Kong does not have any regulations governing malachite green residues.
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