A shipment of apple juice from Turkey was recently seized at the border after being found to contain excessive levels of mycotoxins, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Tuesday.
Sample testing carried out on Nov. 30 last year found that the apple juice supplied by Tunay Gida San ve Tic AS contained 62 micrograms per kilogram of patulin, exceeding the legal amount of 50, the FDA said.
It added that the batch, totaling 4kg, is either to be returned to its country of origin or destroyed.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
Patulin comes from molds and can be found in overripe apples, FDA Deputy Director Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said on Tuesday.
The impact of patulin on animals includes fetal malformation and cancer, while its effect on humans is unclear as it is classified as a Category 3 agent by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, meaning its carcinogenicity to humans is unknown.
Yen Tsung-hai (顏宗海), an attending physician at the Department of Nephrology at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Linkou, New Taipei City, said large consumption of palutin in a short time period could cause nausea and vomiting.
Patulin can be found in fruit including apples, cherries, blueberries, strawberries and bananas, with contamination most commonly seen in apples, he added.
He also warned people not to drink apple juice if they see a change in color, the juice smells off, the expiry date has passed or the packaging is damaged.
In addition to Turkish apple juice, another 20 goods made the list of imported items that recently failed safety inspections, issued by the FDA on Tuesday. These included Indonesian coconut sugar and fresh pineapples from the Philippines, and strawberries from Japan and South Korea.
Lin said both the Japanese and South Korean strawberries were found to contain excessive amounts of pesticides.
Since November last year, 21 of 1,145 batches of strawberries imported from Japan have failed border inspections, he said.
Due to Taiwan and Japan having different regulations on pesticides such as flonicamid and acequinocyl, Japanese strawberries often fail inspections, Lin said, adding that all strawberries imported from Japan have been subjected to batch-by-batch inspections from June 1 last year to April 30.
This is the first time in two years South Korean strawberries failed border inspections, Lin said, adding that the number of imports has been relatively small.
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
RSS