The government should examine oysters imported from Vietnam batch by batch after an initial inspection found residual inorganic arsenic exceeding acceptable levels, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said on Friday.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it has flagged Vietnamese oysters as a category 2 inspection item.
Inspections conducted in March found that at least two batches of oysters had more than five times the acceptable level of residual inorganic arsenic, Lin said.
Photo: Chen Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
Domestic sellers started importing Vietnamese oysters in about 2017, as they have a higher profit margin than Taiwanese-grown oysters, he said.
Imports of Vietnamese oysters have increased from 150 tonnes in 2017 to 3,000 tonnes last year, while domestic oyster production dropped from 23,000 tonnes to 18,000 tonnes, he said.
Imported oysters do not have origin labels, and the public would find it difficult to identify the source of oysters if the government does not identify them as a potential threat to Taiwan’s food safety, Lin said.
Chronic consumption of inorganic arsenic can lead to organ failure, and arsenic poisoning is a common cause of blackfoot disease, he said.
FDA North Area Management Center Deputy Director-General Lin Hsu-yang (林旭陽) said that Taiwan has three separate inspection stages: source management, border inspections and domestic inspections.
All imported goods must arrive with a certificate from health authorities in the area of origin, he said.
Border inspections have three levels: routine, more frequent and batch-by-batch inspections, he said.
Vietnamese oysters are now listed as requiring more frequent inspections, he said.
FDA South Area Management Center Deputy Director-General Tsai Chia-fen (蔡佳芬) said the Executive Yuan has convened a cross-agency task force to investigate the issue, adding that the team is reaching out to importers and domestic oyster farmers.
Inspections of 107 farms and importers from December 2021 to December last year has not shown any evidence that importers were attempting to pass off imported Vietnamese oysters as raised in Taiwan, she said.
The FDA would continue to work with business owners and importers to label their products correctly, she said.
Fisheries Research Institute aquaculture processing division head Tsai Hui-chun (蔡慧君) said that Taiwanese-grown oysters were the same species as those from Vietnam and it is difficult to tell them apart.
The institute has established a data archive that could help analyze the oysters, which could provide a basis for the task force to tell local and imported oysters apart, she said.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that a surge in respiratory illnesses in China has been caused by at least seven types of pathogens, and small children, elderly people and immunocompromised people should temporarily avoid unnecessary visits to China. The recent outbreak of respiratory illnesses in China is mainly in the north and among children, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said on Monday. Data released by the Chinese National Health Commission on Sunday showed that among children aged one to four, the main pathogens were influenza viruses and rhinoviruses, while among children aged five to 14, the main pathogens
A new poll of Taiwanese voters found the top opposition candidate for president jumping past the ruling party’s hopeful into the lead position ahead of January’s election — the latest twist in a drama-filled race. Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) had an approval rating of 31.9 percent versus 29.2 percent for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the poll released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed. The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), ranked third with 23.6 percent, according to the survey conducted
A New Taipei City hotpot restaurant could be fined after a rat dropped from the ceiling and landed on a customer’s plate last week, the New Taipei City Department of Health said yesterday after conducting an inspection. A woman recently posted on the “I am a Banciao resident” (我是板橋人) social media group saying that she had been eating with a friend at Chien Tu Shabu Shabu Hotpot Restaurant’s Shuangshi B branch in Banciao District (板橋). “While still eating, a big rat suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, landing on a plate next to a hotpot,” she said. “Later on, a member of
Actress Hu Ling (胡伶) on Saturday became the first Chinese movie star to walk the red carpet of the Golden Horse Awards since 2019, when China boycotted Taiwan’s biggest awards show over political tensions. Beijing banned its entertainers from joining the awards, dubbed the Chinese-language Oscars, after documentary director Fu Yu (傅榆) voiced support for Taiwan’s formal independence in an acceptance speech in 2018. There were no films from China in the 2019 nomination list and several Hong Kong movies dropped out that year, while several big commercial productions were conspicuously absent at both the 2020 and 2021 awards. However, Hu, nominated for
RSS