Illegal levels of fipronil residue were found in eggs produced on a Changhua County farm, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday, adding that it would boost monitoring of the county’s egg farms and launch a probe into the insecticide’s source.
Three egg samples taken at Shun Hung Farm (順弘牧場) in the county’s Jhutang Township (竹塘) on Jan. 25 were found to contain 0.03, 0.04 and 0.06 parts per million (ppm) of fipronil respectively, exceeding the maximum allowable level of 0.01ppm, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in a news release on Friday.
Having received test results from the council on Wednesday, the FDA began confiscating the 2,730 jin (1,638kg) of eggs stored at the farm, which is to be completed by Wednesday, the administration said.
Photo courtesy of the Changhua County Public Health Bureau
However, the farm had sold 7,480 jin (almost 4.5 tonnes) of eggs to a shop in Taipei, and the shop had sold the eggs to two other shops in New Taipei City’s Tucheng (土城) and Banciao (板橋) districts, it added.
There was a delay between the completion of the testing and the announcement of the results due to the Lunar New Year holiday, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine senior official Hsu Jung-pin (徐榮彬) said yesterday.
The farm’s owner could face a fine of between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000 for contravening the Veterinary Drugs Control Act (動物用藥品管理法), which bans the use of fipronil on farm animals, he said.
The owner has denied having used the insecticide and the council is investigating its source, he said.
Other eggs from the farm tested on Thursday were not tainted, so the council lifted its ban, Hsu said.
In a worldwide scare in mid-2017, millions of fipronil-tainted eggs were found across Europe and Asia, with 45 of Taiwan’s 1,459 egg farms found to have produced tainted eggs that year, council data showed.
Over the past year, the council has tested 459 egg samples and 560 chicken meat samples, but only Shun Hung Farm samples failed initial testing, Hsu said.
The council plans stricter oversight of farms in Changhua County, where one-third of the nation’s egg farms are located, he added.
The incident is an isolated case, and the eggs sold in markets are safe, COA Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said.
Additional reporting by CNA
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS