Beverage shops selling Taiwan’s trademark tea drinks have continued to post strong sales in Singapore even though many of the ingredients used in the drinks have been engulfed in the contamination scare that erupted in Taiwan last month.
Tea beverage sales in Taiwan have suffered from the snowballing food safety scare sparked by the discovery of industrial chemicals such as di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP, in a wide array of foods, beverages and dietary supplements, but the situation in Singapore is very different.
Long lines continue to build up outside tea houses selling Taiwanese tea drinks, such as bubble tea, a Taiwanese beverage made from different flavors of tea, milk and tapioca balls, known as “pearls.”
The KOI Cafe Group, owned by the same family that operates Taiwan’s “50 Lan” tea store chain, has been operating tea houses in Singapore for three years, with eight shops at present.
KOI Cafe chief executive Avon Ma said yesterday that sales were affected to some extent when the DEHP-contamination scare came to light in Taiwan.
“Customers have returned in droves since we put those products back on store shelves after they passed safety examinations by Singapore’s Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority [AVA],” she added.
The company now displays the latest AVA certification document at all eight of its retail stores.
Huang Hsiao-chien (黃筱倩), the chief executive in Singapore of another noted Taiwanese tea store chain, Reach Tea & Cafe, which just began operations in the Southeast Asian city state, said she was not at all worried by Taiwan’s food safety scare.
Producing a large pile of AVA certificates vouching for the safety of the chain’s products, Huang said that whenever consumers question the safety of the chain’s beverages, sales clerks point to the certificates to set their minds at ease.
Market surveys show that most Singaporean consumers are aware of the DEHP contamination scare in Taiwan.
However, many said their love for Taiwanese tea drinks would not be affected by the incident because they were confident in the Singaporean government’s ability to prevent foods and beverages tainted by harmful substances from reaching store shelves.
Citing the latest publication from the Singaporean health authority, meanwhile, Singaporean media yesterday reported that Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority has ordered a recall of two Taiwan-made dietary supplements after they tested positive for DEHP.
The two products are Naturext Immune+ Probiotic 50B and Brand’s Alpha Tank Chewable Multi Vitamins and Minerals, according to Singaporean media reports, adding that although the DEHP levels discovered in the items do not pose a health risk, the Singaporean health authority ordered their recall as a preventive measure.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
RSS