The sale of iced beverages and ice products has soared amid rising temperatures across the country, but the Taipei City Government’s Department of Health urged the public to avoid 10 products that were found to be contaminated with excessive levels of Escherichia coli bacteria or to have elevated aerobic plate counts.
The department has tested 186 iced products, including 151 edible items and 35 mix ingredients since the beginning of summer.
“The presence of high levels of Escherichia coli or plate counts in 25 of the tested products were at levels exceeding the maximum permissible.
Even after being requested to make necessary improvements within a statutory period, 10 of the products still failed the second food hygiene test,” the department told a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
The iced products that failed both tests included Black Tea Slurpy (紅茶雪泥) sold by fast food chain T.K.K. Fried Chicken (頂呱呱), and convenience store chain OK-Mart’s iced latte and chocolate milk shake sold by Taipei’s Drama Cafe (朵拉瑪咖啡館).
Companies responsible for the deficient products faced a maximum fine of NT$3 million (US$95,816) in accordance with Article 17 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), the department said.
The mix ingredients were tested for residue of preservatives, artificial sweeteners and coloring agents, the department said, and just one product — tapioca balls used by Taipei-based tea beverage store Cafe de la Kapha (藍白拖手作飲料舖) — was substandard.
“The tapioca contained 0.51 grams of preservative benzoic acid per kilogram and 0.91g/kg of hexadienoic acid,” the department said, adding that all the tainted products have been removed from shelves.
The department said that while the coliform group was not the main virus by which people get food poisoning, high levels of the bacteria still suggested an unhygienic environment or utensils in manufacturing sites.
It added that excessive consumption of benzoic acid could cause stomachache and negatively affect the liver and kidneys, while hexadienoic acid was considered to be of low toxicity.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS