A Taiwanese company yesterday said the coffee beans it imported from an Italian supplier were not among the items ordered for recall by the European country due to excessive levels of a carcinogenic contaminant.
There has so far been no information about a recall for the coffee beans supplied by Caffe Trombetta, Taipei-based Shika Foods International Co said.
Trombetta’s coffee capsules (lot number 02AD07B), which are sold in packs of 10, have been ordered by the Italian health ministry to be pulled from store shelves due to their excessive levels of ochratoxin.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
News of the recall was reported on Sunday by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, which said the coffee items sampled to contain excessive levels of ochratoxin also included the brands Consilia and Zio d’America.
Ochratoxins are a group of mycotoxins created by mold. Ochratoxin A is the most prevalent and relevant fungal toxin of this group, and is known to occur in commodities such as cereals, coffee, dried fruit and red wine.
Because the contaminant is a possible human carcinogen, the EU has imposed strict restrictions on the levels of ochratoxin A allowed in foods.
The Taipei importer said, however, that it only buys coffee beans and not the coffee capsules from the Italian supplier.
Caffe Trombetta was founded in 1890 in Rome and has since evolved into a globally recognized coffee roaster with worldwide distribution and state-of-the-art coffee roasting technology, according to the company’s Web site.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
RSS