A vegetable retail firm in Greater Taichung, which has been selling bean sprouts for more than six decades, has allegedly been using industrial-grade bleach since last year to “cure” his bean sprouts so they appear whiter and are less prone to rot, Taichung police said yesterday.
The retailer allegedly sold vegetables treated with diluted sodium dithionite to traditional markets, street vendors and other restaurants, the police said.
During a recent joint operation with the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office and other government agencies in a sweep of Beitun District (北屯), they found five barrels of sodium dithionite weighing 233kg, 700kg of bean sprouts and more than 9,000 liters of diluted sodium dithionite, as well as export lists, the police said.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau said food-grade sodium dithionite and other sulfites could be considered food additives under the Standards for Specification, Scope, Application and Limitation of Food Additives (食品添加物使用範圍及限量暨規格標準), but were not allowed to be used on vegetables sold fresh.
Any use of sodium dithionite on fresh vegetables and fruits constitutes a breach of the standards, it said.
The retailer was founded by an 81-year-old man surnamed Tsai (蔡) who sold bean sprouts for a living, according to the police investigation.
The business is currently handled by his son, Tsai Jui-yih (蔡瑞益), and grandson, the police said, adding that prior to export, the family-owned business would also soak the bean sprouts in a vat of five tonnes of water with 1kg of sodium dithionite for five minutes so the vegetables looked better and were more resistant to rot.
The factory produced roughly 1,500kg of bean sprouts per day, the police said.
Police said that although Tsai Jui-yih and the factory’s manager Hao Tai-hua (郝代華) had admitted yesterday to soaking bean sprouts in sodium dithionite, they said they were unaware that it was illegal.
Meanwhile, city government food and drug management division head Chiu Hui-tzu (邱惠慈) reminded consumers not to pick the “best-looking” products when visiting traditional markets.
If vegetables remain “fresh” after standing in room temperature for some time, it is very possible they were treated with illegal additives, she said, adding that consumers should thoroughly wash their vegetables to ensure food safety.
Long-term sustained ingestion of sodium dithionite might damage the respiratory system and increase the risk of pulmonary diseases in bronchitis patients, she said, adding that it could also cause difficulty breathing and is a common cause for asthma attacks.
Violations of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) can result in fines from NT$30,000 to NT$3 million, (US$976 to US$97,600) Chiu said, adding that crimes involving illegal additives can earn a sentence of up to five years in prison, or NT$8 million in fines.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
The Republic of China Army Command yesterday relieved Kinmen Defense Battalion commander after authorities indicted the officer on charges connected to using methamphetamine. The Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday detained Colonel He (何) after the Coast Guard linked him to drug shipments and proceeded to charge him yesterday for using and possessing crystal meth. The man was released on a NT$50,000 bail and banned from leaving Kinmen, the office said. Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Chen Chien-yi (陳建義) told a news conference yesterday that He has been removed and another officer is taking over the unit as the acting commander. The military
RSS