Tea store chain Stornaway (英國藍) was yesterday ordered to temporarily close all of its branches nationwide pending a further test of its tea products, following the discovery that three types of tea leaves it sold contained excessive pesticide residue.
The order was issued by the Tainan City Government’s Department of Health after Stornaway notified the agency earlier yesterday that samples of 330kg Earl Grey tea leaves, 150kg Ceylon tea leaves and 240kg Darjeeling tea leaves it purchased from Taipei-based Chou Chieh Trading Co (洲界貿易) last month were found to contain pesticide residue in a recent test it authorized a third party to conduct.
“In light of the latest findings, the department has instructed other local health bureaus to oversee the temporary shutdown of all of the chain’s 96 branches in the nation. All relevant tea products have been pulled from shelves,” Pharmaceutical Affairs Section official Cho Ching-ching (卓金津) said.
Photo: CNA
Cho said the help of the Taipei City Government’s Department of Health and the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office has been requested in identifying the source of Chou Chieh’s allegedly tainted tea leaves.
The shutdown order came after the Miaoli County Government’s Public Health Bureau on April 14 found that Stornaway’s rosebuds — also bought from Chou Chieh — were contaminated with 11 types of pesticides, including dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), the so-called “poison of the century.”
A preliminary investigation showed that the tainted rosebuds were part of a 4.5 tonne shipment imported by Kaohsiung-based Yuen Yeeh Enterprise Co (原宜貿易) from Iran in August last year.
Taipei Department of Health Food and Drug Division director Wang Ming-li (王明理) said the department has confirmed that Chou Chieh was the sole ingredient supplier of all of Stornaway’s black tea products.
“According to data from the city’s food ingredient platform, the three kinds of contaminated black tea leaves were imported from Sri Lanka,” Wang said, adding that the agency yesterday confiscated 20 boxes weighing 600kg of the black tea leaves from Chou Chieh’s office on Liaoning Street.
Wang said Stornaway’s headquarters have been unreachable since it faxed the test results to Tainan’s health bureau, and that all of its 26 branches in Taipei were closed yesterday.
Taipei’s Department of Health urged food companies to immediately suspend manufacturing and sales of their products if they are found to pose a threat to public safety.
“Violators could face a fine ranging from NT$30,000 to NT$3 million [US$962.37 to NT$96,237] in accordance with the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法),” it said.
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