Some of the most popular frozen foods stores in Taipei have failed a sanitation inspection for bacteria, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials said.
In an inspection of 78 frozen products, conducted from April to June in seven counties and cities, 40 percent tested positive for unsanitary levels of bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus, officials said.
Melage Cafe, Yili Ice Store in Gongguan (公館) and Hsiaonanmen Traditional Tofu Pudding are among the vendors and businesses whose products failed to meet safety standards, according to the administration.
Officials said that E coli in peanut and milk shaved ice from Yili Ice Store in Gonguan exceeded permissible levels and tested positive for pathogenicity.
Taro shaved ice from Zen Yi Xuan (振頤軒) in the Breeze Song Gao department store and kiwifruit shaved ice from the Happy Inn Juice Bar in the Xinyi Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store were both found to contain S aureus, officials said.
The administration said 64.7 percent of all shaved-ice products failed to meet required standards, the highest rate of all iced products, followed by 47.1 percent of smoothies, 40 percent of ice creams, 33.3 percent of ice cubes and 27.3 percent of “other” iced products.
The price of iced products that breached safety regulations ranged from NT$10 to NT$100, an official said.
FDA Research and Analysis Division Deputy Director Chou Hsiu-kuan (周秀冠) said the administration uses more rigorous standards than local food and drug authorities to detect hygiene indicator microorganisms in frozen foods, such as pathogenic E coli, salmonella, B cereus, S aureus and Listeria monocytogenes.
FDA Division of Research and Analysis section chief Lin Tse-yang (林澤揚) said that no products tested logged a microorganism count of more than 10 million units, which means they did not pose an immediate threat to life, according to administration regulations.
However, S aureus and B cereus found in the samples could cause serious food poisoning, with symptoms including diarrhea, nausea and fever, Lin said.
Officials said test results have been sent to local health authorities, adding that companies found to have breached regulations are required to improve their standards in further tests or face fines.
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