Food inspections by the Taipei City Department of Health on processed meat products found three possible cases of cross contamination.
The city government has conducted random inspections on 24 brands of processed meats items sold at supermarkets, hypermarkets and breakfast stores, including packaged beef jerky, dried shredded pork, hamburger patties and meatball products.
City officials took samples from the products and sent them to the National Animal Industry Foundation to test them for animal-derived ingredients.
Three of the 24 items (12.5 percent) failed the inspection: Grilled Beef Jerky by Black Bridge was found to contain pork and beef hamburger patties from two branches of breakfast restaurant chains Chiabaoto and JSP were found to contain pork and chicken.
The department’s Food and Drugs Division Director Wang Ming-li said the department had already informed local health bureaus where the two factories are located.
Inspectors found that pork was not added into the beef jerky during production, but that the factory’s production lines for producing different products were not clearly separated and that might have caused cross contamination, she said.
Wang said that chicken was not found at the beef factory and the local health bureau is still investigating the company’s production process.
If companies are found to be deliberately adding animal-derived ingredients to food products without declaring them on their labels, they could face a fine between NT$60,000 and NT$200 million (US$1,174 and US$5.91 million) and if they are found guilty of mislabeling or exaggerating the contents of the packages on the labels, they could face a fine of NT$40,000 to NT$4 million, Wang said.
Tests were aslo conducted on 71 brands of dried day lilies, dried bamboo fungus and jelly fungus — ingredients often used in dishes during the Lunar New Year — sold in the city’s supermarkets, traditional markets, food outlets or used in restaurants, to determine chemical substance residue levels.
Test results showed 14 of the 71 items (19.7 percent) failed the inspection and three of the seven packaged products (42.8 percent) were mislabeled.
Nine of the 47 dried day lily products and four of the 14 dried bamboo fungus products had sulfur dioxide levels exceeding the legal standard of 4 grams per kilogram, and one of 10 jelly fungus products contained residues of two types of pesticides — methamidophos and phoxim, which are illegal.
The health department said consumers should avoid buying dried food products that are too bright in color or have a bitter odor.
It said that 70 percent of sulfur dioxide residue can be removed by soaking and wringing the food dry two or three times before cooking in hot water.
Up to 90 percent of residual pesticide can be removed by placing the food products in boiling water without covering for at least three minutes.
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