The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Council of Agriculture yesterday said eggs with the Certified Agricultural Standard (CAS) label are to also be tested for dioxin.
The two agencies and the Environmental Protection Administration — which are working together to trace the source of dioxin residue found in eggs from three farms in Changhua County reported last week — yesterday afternoon held a news conference to share plans to expand examination for dioxins.
“We will receive all the examination reports [about samples collected from the farms] by Friday at the latest to confirm the source of the dioxins,” Animal Husbandry Division Deputy Director Wang Chung-shu (王忠恕) said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“Examination items for CAS certification do not include dioxin testing because dioxins are basically environmental pollution,” he said, adding that while the public is worried about it, the council would consider listing it as an examination item for the CAS label right away.
He said the council has also prepared an animal feed examination plan, and would explain the details to the public after the examination reports are released.
“We have removed from shelves 7.7 tonnes of eggs from the distributors that we suspect to be contaminated,” FDA Director-General Wu Shou-mei (吳秀梅) said.
“People can purchase eggs as they are safe to eat,” she said.
Also at the news conference, National Taiwan University toxicologist and physician Chiang Chih-kang (姜至剛) said the level of dioxin residue found in the eggs is less than the tolerable daily intake of dioxin recommended by WHO, and people would only exceed the tolerable intake level if they eat more than five eggs a day.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard