The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stopped a batch of mugs manufactured by a Chinese firm for Spanish fashion retailer Zara from entering Taiwan after they were found to contain excessive levels of formaldehyde and melamine.
The agency said Zara Home’s Taiwan branch applied for a permit to import a batch of mugs featuring cartoon characters from the comic strip Peanuts on May 15.
The application was denied after the products were discovered to have formaldehyde at a level of 6 parts per million (ppm) and 4.2ppm of melamine, the agency said.
Photo: Wu Liang-yi, Taipei Times
Under the Sanitation Standard for Food Utensils, Containers and Packages Act (食品器具容器包裝衛生標準), residues of formaldehyde are not allowed in food or food utensils due to its carcinogenic nature and the maximum permissible level for melamine is 2.5ppm.
“As the goods do not conform to the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), they must be returned or destroyed. They cannot enter the local market,” the agency said.
In response, Zara Home said it was responsible for importing the mugs, but not their manufacture.
In other health-related news, the Taipei Department of Health yesterday released the results of tests on Chinese wolfberries, which found that 23.1 percent of the tested products had high levels of pesticide.
The department said it tested a total of 13 wolfberries purchased from the capital’s supermarkets, hypermarkets and traditional stores, of which seven tested positive for pesticide residue.
“The concentration of pesticide in four of the products was below the maximum allowable level. However, the other three contained excessive levels of propargite and carbosulfan,” the department said.
It said the manufacturers would face fines ranging from NT$60,000 to NT$200 million (US$1,931.62 to US$6.44 million) in accordance with Article 44 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation.
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