Five dried day lily products that were found to contain high levels of bleach have been removed from store shelves in New Taipei City (新北市), health officials said after a series of random checks on food items that are traditionally popular during the Lunar New Year holiday.
The city’s Public Health Department said that earlier this month it tested 185 food items at convenience stores, wholesale outlets and traditional markets and found that five of them contained excessive levels of sulfur dioxide.
All five were dried day lily products and have been removed from store shelves, department section chief Wang Shu-fen (王淑芬) said.
The items contained up to 17.27g of sulfur dioxide per kilogram of dried day lilies, way above the legal limit of 4g, she added.
Sulfur dioxide is commonly used to decolorize and enhance the appearance of day lilies.
Suppliers of the tainted dried day lilies will be fined between NT$30,000 (US$1,000) and NT$150,000 in accordance with the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法), Wang said.
Consumers should soak dried day lilies in warm water and then boil them for three minutes to get rid of excess sulfur dioxide, she said.
Wang also urged consumers to avoid day lilies that are too bright in color as well as salted melon seeds and pistachios that appear to be too white.
Meanwhile, a report earlier this week said that 51.7 percent of day lilies checked in Taipei between July and last month contained high levels of bleach and that some of those products were from Hualien.
The Hualien County Health Bureau said on Wednesday that 72 percent of the county’s dried day lilies passed sulfur dioxide tests in inspections conducted throughout last year.
Bureau deputy head Lin Yun-chin (林雲欽) said most of the products that failed the checks were from the same suppliers in southern Hualien and the bureau had recalled them.
Taiwan has the technology to produce dried day lilies without sulfur dioxide, Lin said, adding that agricultural agencies could provide assistance.
However, use of that technology tends to reduce the shelf life of the products, Lin said.
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
A fourth public debate was held today about restarting the recently decommissioned Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, ahead of a referendum on the controversial issue to be held in less than two weeks. A referendum on Aug. 23 is to ask voters if they agree that “the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant should continue operations upon approval by the competent authority and confirmation that there are no safety concerns.” Anyone over 18 years of age can vote in the referendum. The vote comes just three months after its final reactor shut down, officially making Taiwan nuclear-free. Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) represented
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced a ban on all current and former government officials from traveling to China to attend a military parade on Sept. 3, which Beijing is to hold to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. "This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Republic of China’s victory in the War of Resistance [Against Japan]," MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a regular news briefing in Taipei. To prevent Beijing from using the Sept. 3 military parade and related events for "united
RSS