The nation’s latest food scare, involving the massive use of a plasticizer in bottled beverages and dairy products, was exposed thanks to the perseverance of one food safety inspector, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Lo Chi-fang (羅季方) said.
The 52-year-old FDA inspector, a mother of two surnamed Yang (楊), became suspicious in March during a routine check of beverages for banned chemicals, said Lo, who refused to divulge Yang’s full name to maintain her privacy.
Yang became concerned about contamination traces when she saw abnormal wave-shaped signals on her gas chromatography screen as she was inspecting some sports and soft drinks, including brand-name ones, Lo said, adding that Yang spent two weeks identifying the signals as being caused by Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP, which to her knowledge had never been used before as a food additive.
“No medical or food-processing archives from Taiwan or abroad have indicated that DEHP has been added to food or drink products,” Lo quoted Yang as saying.
Over the ensuing several weeks, Yang discovered that the amount of the suspected carcinogen in each contaminated bottle or carton topped 600 parts per million, far exceeding the allowable daily intake of the chemical through other channels, including plastic film wrap, nail polish and plastic containers.
The Department of Health said on Monday that DEHP had been detected in 16 samples of sports and soft drinks, including Sunkist Lemon Juice, Taiwan Yes energy-boosting drink and a sports drink manufactured by Young Energy Source Co. The drinks have been pulled from stores.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
NEW WORLD: Taiwan is pursuing innovative approaches to international relations through economics, trade and values-based diplomacy, the foreign minister said Taiwan would implement a “three-chain strategy” that promotes democratic values in response to US tariffs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said. Taiwan would aim to create a “global democratic value chain,” seek to capitalize on its position within the first island chain and promote a “non-red supply chain,” Lin was quoted as saying in the ministry’s written report to the Legislative Yuan submitted ahead of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting slated for today. The Ministry would also uphold a spirit of mutual beneficial collaboration, maintaining close communication and consultations with Washington to show that Taiwan-US cooperation
RSS