The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday suspended chili pepper powder imports from China from 21 importers and manufacturers for three months after their products were found to contain Sudan III, a coloring agent banned in food in Taiwan.
A policy to test every shipment of chili powder imports from China, in effect since Dec. 11 last year, is to continue until June 10, FDA officials told a news conference, adding that more than 1.06 tonnes of products were recalled as of Monday.
The family of substances known as “Sudan reds” are categorized as Group II carcinogens by the WHO and typically used as an industrial dye for oils, wax and polymers, said Yen Tsung-hai (顏宗海), a toxicology expert at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital.
Photo courtesy of Hsinchu City Public Health Bureau
Sudan reds have been linked to increased cancer rates in lab animals and human consumption of the substance can lead to the formation of amines, a probable carcinogen for humans, Yen said.
PX Mart Co (全聯實業) has recalled all 11,824 chili powder bottles of the affected batch bearing an expiration date of Dec. 12 next year, the FDA said.
An investigation found that the contaminated material came from a shipment of Chinese chili powder imported by Bao Hsin Enterprises Co Ltd (保欣企業有限公司), FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said.
The New Taipei City Department of Health on Feb. 9 found four parts per billion of Sudan III in samples taken from that shipment, resulting in the recall of food products by five additional manufacturers, including Yuzhong Food’s (裕榮食品股份有限公司) popular shrimp-flavored snacks, Lin said.
Ho Ho Yuan International Trade Co (禾禾園國際貿易有限公司), Shen Yan Co (申元有限公司), Yun Fang Spice Processing Factory (永芳香料加工所), Sun Sheng Foods Co (順盛食品原料有限公司) and Mares International Trading Co (瑪爾氏國際貿易) were among the companies that issued recalls, in addition to a company that appeared to have used an unaffected batch of chili powder, Lin said.
Food safety officials are confident that all affected manufacturers and distributors have been identified and no tainted products are on store shelves, he said.
The Yunlin County Public Health Bureau has filed a criminal complaint with the Yunlin District Prosecutors’ Office, the FDA said.
The agency increased the test coverage of chili powder from China to all shipments after observing a surge in consignments that failed food safety standards, Lin said.
Eight months before the FDA imposed the new standards, 172 shipments of Chinese chili powder were imported into Taiwan, of which 98 were inspected and 24 failed tests, a failure rate of about 25 percent, he said.
The tainted powder that ended up in the supply chain was imported on Oct. 23 last year before the standards were enhanced, he said.
The use of Sudan reds in food is punishable by up to seven years in prison commutable to an NT$80 million (US$2.54 million) fine, FDA Director-General Wu Shou-mei (吳秀梅) said.
Importing a food product without valid documentation, including its point of origin, is punishable by a NT$200 million fine and the possible suspension of the affected product line or company, Wu said.
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
ELITE UNIT: President William Lai yesterday praised the National Police Agency’s Special Operations Group after watching it go through assault training and hostage rescue drills The US Navy regularly conducts global war games to develop deterrence strategies against a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, aimed at making the nation “a very difficult target to take,” US Acting Chief of Naval Operations James Kilby said on Wednesday. Testifying before the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, Kilby said the navy has studied the issue extensively, including routine simulations at the Naval War College. The navy is focused on five key areas: long-range strike capabilities; countering China’s command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting; terminal ship defense; contested logistics; and nontraditional maritime denial tactics, Kilby
RSS