The nation’s latest food scare, involving the massive use of a plasticizer in bottled beverages and dairy products, was exposed thanks to the perseverance of one food safety inspector, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Lo Chi-fang (羅季方) said.
The 52-year-old FDA inspector, a mother of two surnamed Yang (楊), became suspicious in March during a routine check of beverages for banned chemicals, said Lo, who refused to divulge Yang’s full name to maintain her privacy.
Yang became concerned about contamination traces when she saw abnormal wave-shaped signals on her gas chromatography screen as she was inspecting some sports and soft drinks, including brand-name ones, Lo said, adding that Yang spent two weeks identifying the signals as being caused by Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP, which to her knowledge had never been used before as a food additive.
“No medical or food-processing archives from Taiwan or abroad have indicated that DEHP has been added to food or drink products,” Lo quoted Yang as saying.
Over the ensuing several weeks, Yang discovered that the amount of the suspected carcinogen in each contaminated bottle or carton topped 600 parts per million, far exceeding the allowable daily intake of the chemical through other channels, including plastic film wrap, nail polish and plastic containers.
The Department of Health said on Monday that DEHP had been detected in 16 samples of sports and soft drinks, including Sunkist Lemon Juice, Taiwan Yes energy-boosting drink and a sports drink manufactured by Young Energy Source Co. The drinks have been pulled from stores.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
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