The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said that an inspection of food ingredients to be used during the Lunar New Year holiday found three vegetable items with excessive levels of pesticide residue.
The department carries out special inspections every year ahead of the holiday, when many families start buying ingredients to prepare dishes for the Lunar New Year’s Eve dinner.
A survey of 116 items, including black fungus, seafood, meat, baked pastries, nuts, raisins, candies and fresh fruit and vegetables, found three vegetable items with pesticide residue levels in excess of the legal maximum residue limits (MRL), the department said.
It found Asian basil containing 0.02 parts per million (ppm) of difenoconazole (MRL 0.01ppm) and 1.62ppm of diflubenzuron (MRL 1ppm), spinach containing 6.48ppm of tebufenozide (MRL 5ppm), and Chinese cabbage containing 1.11ppm of chlorfenapyr (MRL 1ppm).
Selling the tainted vegetables is in breach of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) and can incur a fine of between NT$60,000 and NT$200 million (US$2,047 and US$6.82 million).
The department said it instructed the stores selling the vegetables to remove them from shelves.
It has also asked the health and agricultural departments of the counties where the vegetables were produced to supervise the farmers on the proper use of pesticides.
The department urged the public to wash vegetables under running water, rub their roots and stems, and soak them in water for about 10 to 20 minutes before washing them again for two to three minutes prior to cooking, adding that cooking them without the lid on might also help reduce pesticide residue.
Lunar New Year’s Day this year falls on Friday next week.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
RSS