Thirteen ready-to-eat meat, poultry and egg products tested for unsafe bacteria did not meet sanitary standards, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said.
Products that failed the tests included a milk pudding from the chain bakery Sun Merry (聖瑪莉) and braised chicken and duck feet from hypermarket RT-Mart (大潤發) in Yuanlin Township (員林), Changhua County.
The administration randomly sampled 179 ready-to-eat meat, poultry and egg products to examine whether they contained excessive levels of Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, salmonella, enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli or Listeria monocytogenes.
FDA Division of Research and Analysis deputy director Chou Hsiu-kuan (周秀冠) said the types of food sampled were mostly braised and baked meat and poultry products, but also included ham, deep-fried food, meat jerky, other meat products and egg products.
Among the 13 products that failed the inspection, nine were found with sanitary indicator bacteria exceeding legal standards, one was found with pathogens and three failed because of excessive levels of sanitary indicator bacteria and pathogens at the same time, Chou said.
The braised chicken and duck feet were found to contain excessive levels of coliform group and E coli, while the milk pudding was found to contain B cereus, the results showed.
The administration said B cereus contamination might have resulted from a refrigerator not being cold enough, with the bacteria potentially causing vomiting or diarrhea.
Most of the 13 products were bulk-food items from traditional markets, Chou said.
RT-Mart has been fined NT$60,000 (US$1,825) by the Changhua County Department of Health, while SunMerry faces a fine of between NT$6,000 and NT$200 million over a breach of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), Chou said.
FDA Division of Research and Analysis official Lin Hsu-yang (林旭陽) said problematic products can result from contaminated ingredients, unsanitized equipment or preparation environment, or inappropriate storage and processing, adding that people should examine food before eating it.
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