The Department of Health (DOH) said that during its latest round of inspections of 13 types of red yeast rice currently on the market, four were found to contain levels of citrinin that were two to three times the legal limit.
In recent years, foodstuffs made with red yeast rice have become popular because it is believed to reduce cholesterol and provide other health benefits. Red yeast rice products are made from rice and a red yeast called Monascus purpureus. Fermented rice is used as a food preservative, food coloring and an ingredient in rice wine.
However, if red yeast rice is not properly preserved or packaged, the amount of the toxin citrinin present can increase to levels harmful to the human body. Health officials therefore conducted inspections on 13 types of red yeast rice and found that four types contained citrinin between 10.2ppm (parts per million) to 14.5ppm, when the maximum legal limit allowed in such foods is only 5ppm.
Three of the red yeast rice products that contained too much citrinin were found in Taipei City, while one was found in Tainan County. Health officials have ordered that the products be immediately removed from shelves and they are investigating their origin.
Other foodstuffs made with red yeast were also inspected by the DOH, and all nine types of processed food passed inspections. Health officials said that 20 types of rice and wheat products, 19 types of coffee beans, 18 types of apple juice drinks, 10 types of infant formula and 28 types of solid baby food were all found to comply with food safety regulations.
The DOH said that because citrinin is produced naturally by fungi such as red yeast, it is not advisable to consume too much food made using it. When shopping for red yeast, consumers should choose well-known brands and products that are vacuum-packaged and refrigerated to avoid consuming too much toxin, it added.
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Restarting the No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant would take up to 18 months, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said today. Kuo was answering questions during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee, where legislators are considering amendments to the Renewable Energy Development Act (再生能源發展條) amid concerns about the consequences of the Pingtung County reactor’s decommissioning scheduled for May 17. Its decommissioning is to mark the end of Taiwan’s nuclear power production. However, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have proposed an amendment to the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) that would extend the life of existing
RSS