Border inspection results released yesterday by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showed that a three-in-one drip-filter coffee product imported from Japan contained a sugar sachet manufactured in Tochigi Prefecture, an area from which food imports are banned.
The goods have been returned to Japan, the FDA said.
Imports of food products from five Japanese prefectures — Fukushima, Tochigi, Gunma, Chiba and Ibaraki — have been banned since March 2011, shortly after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster.
Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Adninistration
Japan’s UCC Ueshima Coffee Co makes the coffee product, which is marketed as UCC Special Blend three-in-one drip-filter coffee, a paper cup with a sugar sachet and powdered creamer sachet.
Seventeen other food products also failed FDA inspections, the results showed.
A red chili pepper powder product from China was found to use a restricted coloring agent; a combined dairy supplement product from the US contained an illegal additive; and two black-pepper products from Vietnam and a green tea product from Japan had excessive pesticide residues, the FDA said.
A textured soy spice product from Malaysia had excessive preservatives; a rose petal product from Pakistan had a restricted coloring agent; a frozen seaweed product from Japan had excessive levels of inorganic arsenic; and a beef sauce product and a seafood sauce from Hong Kong had excessive preservatives, it said.
Three orange products from Japan; a dried fig product from Turkey and a green tea product from Sri Lanka were all found to contain excessive pesticide residues, it said.
Other food products that failed inspections were a peanut butter product from Vietnam with excessive levels of aflatoxins and an oak panel product from China that did not meet food container standards, the FDA said.
The products were all flagged by a border customs inspection and will be returned or destroyed, it said.
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