A dermatologist has advised people to wear gloves or wash their hands after picking or peeling mangoes after a several incidents of people developing dermatitis from touching the fruit.
Mangoes ripen around May to August, but some people pick them while they are still green, cut them into slices and put them in the freezer with homemade sugar water to make a snack called mangguocing (芒果青).
Chiu Che-huang (邱哲煌), a dermatologist based in Nantou County’s Caotun Township (草屯), said that mangoes are part of the Anacardiaceae, or sumac family, which produces a liquid called urushiol when the skin of the tree, or the fruit rind, is broken.
Photo: Chen Feng-li, Taipei Times
Contact with urushiol can cause contact dermatitis, he said.
Chiu said his clinic admitted two people complaining of rashes on their arms and one attributing the rash to flea bites.
Chiu asked if they had come into contact with mangoes — which was confirmed — as the clinic had already treated people who had developed contact dermatitis from picking mangoes.
Patients with contact dermatitis can develop blisters as well as rashes, but symptoms usually wear off within a week, Chiu said.
Prescribed ointments or cold compresses could be applied on the blisters to reduce itchiness, he said, recommending antihistamines if the itching continues.
Farmers should wear gloves or wash their hands and arms after picking or slicing mangoes, Chiu said.
Even if gloves were worn, people should wash their hands and arms afterward, he said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS