A consumer’s complaint about a frozen pineapple product from Thailand, which its producer markets as unadulterated, was passed on by Taipei City Councilor Huang Hsiang-chun (黃向群) to the city’s Department of Health, which found the product contained artificial sweetener and ordered its recall.
The product, Dragon King Pineapples, are miniature peeled pineapples curved into a spiral about the size of a fist. They are imported by a company called Mr. Nori and mostly sold in packs of five by online food retailer i3Fresh.
“The consumer felt that the pineapple tasted unnaturally sweet and that it had a weird texture,” Huang said.
The department’s tests showed that the pineapples contained 1.1g per kilogram of cyclamic acid, an artificial sweetener that is permitted in dried melon seeds, preserved fruit or carbonated beverages, but not in fresh fruit.
Food and Drug Administration data indicate that excessive consumption of cyclamic acid can cause kidney damage, an electrolyte disturbance or photosensitive dermatitis, Huang said.
Eating one-and-a-half packs of the product would exceed the safe amount of the substance for an adult weighing 60kg, he said, adding that more than 100,000 packs of the product have been sold in Taiwan.
Under the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), producers are not allowed to add cyclamic acid to fresh fruit and vegetables, department Food and Drug Division director Wang Ming-li (王明理) said, adding that the agency has told the retailer to remove the product from its Web site.
The importer may face a fine between NT$30,000 and NT$3 million (US$988 and US$98,782) for illegal additives and the retailer may face a fine of between NT$40,000 and NT$4 million for false advertising, she said, adding that the companies must provide compensation or refund options to consumers.
Hamk Chang (張右承), CEO of i3Fresh, said the factory in Thailand had purchased pineapples from other factories due to insufficient supply, so that pineapples containing artificial sweetener might have been mixed with unadulterated fruit.
Consumers who purchased the product between May and June could receive a full refund, he said.
REPORT: Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining loitering munitions matching the AeroVironment Switchblade 300 or the Anduril Altius-600, ‘Foreign Policy’ said Taiwan is seeking US-made kamikaze drones in an apparent concession to pressure from Washington to focus on asymmetric capabilities to defeat or deter a Chinese attack, Foreign Policy said in a report on Wednesday. Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining AeroVironment Switchblade loitering munitions or other devices with similar capabilities, it said, citing four sources familiar with the matter commenting on condition of anonymity. The Switchblade 300 is a tube-launched drone designed for attacking ground troops, while its larger sibling, the Switchblade 600, could be used to destroy tanks and entrenched troops. Ukraine has utilized both systems extensively in its fight against
Police officers yesterday morning apprehended the prime suspect of a triple homicide case, after raiding the suspect’s hideout in Taichung. They transported the suspect to New Taipei City for questioning and recorded his statement last night. The suspect, identified as a 24-year-old man surnamed Chang (張), is believed to have used his hands to strangle his wife, surnamed Chen (陳), 29, along with his three-year-old son from a previous marriage and his wife’s mother, 69. The three dead bodies were wrapped in blankets when they were discovered inside their apartment in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) on Saturday. Chang was holding a
Hungarian Member of Parliament Tompos Marton said he considers Taiwan to be a better alternative to China as a strategic partner. Marton, who is the vice president of the opposition Momentum Party, made the remarks in an interview with the Central News Agency on Sunday. He draped a Republic of China flag across his shoulders to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) visit to the capital city, Budapest, on Thursday last week, and openly voiced support for Taiwan on social media. He said in the interview that he wanted to remind the world that there were alternatives to China, and that “Taiwan has
A female physician at New Taipei City’s Shuang Ho Hospital was bullied and made to work for 32 consecutive hours by a senior colleague while pregnant before later having a miscarriage, an internal investigation found, the hospital said on Monday. The perpetrator has been removed from his post, the hospital said. The attending physician in the hospital’s Medical Imaging Department, identified by the pseudonym Y, earlier on Monday told reporters that she had been bullied by a male senior colleague who arranged shifts in her department. In January, shortly after she became pregnant, Y asked the department director if she could avoid overnight