The Tainan City Government’s Department of Health has given its approval for nationwide branches of tea beverage chain Stornaway (英國藍) to reopen, on the condition that each batch of ingredients it is to use is subject to tests.
“Stornaway applied on Thursday last week to resume operations,” Tainan Department of Health Deputy Director Lin Pi-fen (林碧芬) said. “The application was approved on Monday after the beverage chain agreed to three demands and signed an affidavit.”
Lin said Stornaway must test each batch of ingredients it is to use or ask its suppliers to supply a report, only use the ingredients after they pass tests on random samples taken by the department and report menu changes.
The tea chain must abide by the requirements until future test results satisfy the department that Stornaway’s food safety management is appropriate, Lin added.
The consent to allow Stornaway to resume business came after it was ordered on April 21 to temporarily close its 96 branches nationwide because the ingredients of several tea beverages the company sold were found to be tainted with excessive levels of pesticide residues, including DDT.
The affected ingredients included dried rose buds, Earl Grey, Ceylon, oolong and green teas.
The discovery triggered a widespread pesticide scare implicating several beverage chains and a total of 50 tea and dried flower bud products as of yesterday.
A Stornaway store manager surnamed Chen (陳) said the company has received a document from the department allowing it to reopen, but no exact date has been set due to changes in suppliers.
“What is certain is that all of our flower tea drinks will be off the menu for the moment,” Chen said.
In related developments, the department released test results on potentially tainted green beans imported from Myanmar by Tainan-based food seed and grain importer S-Jaeger-Son Co Ltd (年冠實業), which were found to contain high levels of pesticide residues, including acephate and methamidophos.
“The test results came back normal, meaning S-Jaeger-Son’s green bean products are allowed back on shelves,” Lin said.
Lin added that the department has also sent samples of S-Jaeger-Son’s other grain products — including oat, corn, sesame, Job’s tears and purple glutinous rice — for testing, with the results expected on Friday.
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