Big-box retailer Costco has been ordered to recall a batch of packaged cheese slices that was found to contain a potentially cancer-inducing chemical, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.
Ethylene oxide, a compound associated with lymphoma and leukemia, was detected by border authorities on Monday last week during an inspection of packages of four types of cheese slices made by US dairy product vendor Sonoma Creamery, FDA Deputy Director Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said.
The Kaohsiung Department of Health inspected another four batches of the same product on Tuesday last week and detected in one the same chemical, which is banned in Taiwan.
Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration
The FDA said that 2,120 packs of Sonoma Jack hot pepper, traditional and garlic jack cheese, as well as Sonoma cheddar were imported, with 94 packs sold and five thrown away due to faulty packaging.
The FDA has ordered Costco to recall the product.
The Kaohsiung Department of Health said that Costco could be fined NT$60,000 to NT$200 million (US$1,878 to US$6.26 million) under the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) for allegedly selling a substandard product.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung City Government
Costco Taiwan last month was fined NT$720,000 after the same chemical was detected in another cheese product.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies ethylene oxide as a group 1 carcinogen, meaning it is carcinogenic to humans. Only a few countries allow its use as a sterilizing agent, including the US and Canada.
In other news, the FDA said in a statement on Thursday that several changes would be made to regulations covering nutrition labeling of carbonated beverages and other prepacked food products.
Amendments have been drafted due to health concerns, with the changes related to the ways nutrients can be labeled on carbonated beverages and food products, Lin said.
The highlight of the draft amendments is that carbonated beverage labels would no longer be permitted to use phrases such as “rich in” — for example to describe vitamin C content — or similar descriptions, as labels would be confined to nutritional facts, Lin said.
For example, “the product contains vitamin C” or “the product contains 50mg of vitamin C per 100ml” would be acceptable, he said.
The draft amendments would erase a limit on the number of nutrients that can be listed on food product labels, Lin said.
Previously, a maximum of eight nutrients could be listed on packaging, but that restriction would be rescinded in accordance with international regulations, he said.
If a label bears a nutrient that the product contains, nutritional facts would be permitted alongside it, such as “the product contains lutein” or weight per serving information, he said.
A 60-day period in which public opinion can be submitted on the draft amendments began yesterday, the FDA said.
In other news, the Taichung Office of Food and Drug Safety said yesterday that its inspection on Friday last week found that McCormick Garlic Powder products sold at Costco branches in the city contained 0.1mg/kg of residual ethylene oxide.
According to regulations in Taiwan, such substances can only be used for medical purposes and may not be used as pesticides or food additives.
The two Costco branches in Taichung have already removed the products from their shelves, the office said.
Buyers of the batch with an expiry date of Nov. 24 next year should return the products immediately, it said.
Additional reporting by Tsai Shu-yuan
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to