A shipment of dried black sesame seeds from Malaysia was recently seized at Taiwan’s border after being found to contain excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Tuesday.
The 38,400kg of black sesame seeds, imported by Kaohsiung-based Long Weleare Industry Co, were seized after sample testing of the shipment sent for examinations on Dec. 15 detected 0.06 parts per million (ppm) of phosphine, exceeding the allowable limit of 0.01ppm.
The product has been returned to the country of origin or destroyed, the FDA said.
Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration
Phosphine is a colorless gas used as a fumigant for stored grains, FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said.
Lin said it was first violation by the importer, so the rate of inspections on its future shipments would be raised to 20 to 50 percent from 2 to 10 percent.
Phosphine is a chemical commonly used for fumigation to control pests in stored grains and seeds, Taipei Veterans General Hospital toxicologist Yang Chen-chang (楊振昌) said.
Since it takes a long time to ship bulk grain to Taiwan by sea, and insects and pests can infest grain in storage and shipment, fumigation to eliminate insects is usually performed after arriving in Taiwan and before the cargoes are sent to granaries, Yang said.
Inhaling high concentrations of phosphine can cause gastrointestinal disorders, bronchitis and pulmonary edema, and can even lead to death, Yang said.
The black sesame seeds were intercepted along with 12 other product shipments, including fresh white truffles from Italy, fresh grapes from South Korea and lion’s mane mushrooms from China, after they were found to contain excessive amounts of agricultural chemicals or failed to conform to regulations on the inspection of imported foods and related products, the FDA’s weekly report on intercepted imports showed.
Three shipments of fresh strawberries from Japan also failed border inspections after being found to contain excessive pesticide residues, the report said.
FDA statistics showed that, from July 8 last year to Monday last week, 13 out of 273 shipments of fruit from Japan failed to meet Taiwan’s safety standards during border checks.
As such, fresh strawberries from Japan would still be subject to batch-by-batch border inspections until April 30, while products from six Japanese suppliers would be banned from entering Taiwan until Feb. 11.
In addition, two batches of chili powder imported from China failed pesticide tests, and such imports from across the Taiwan Strait would be subject to batch-by-batch border checks until June 10, the report said.
In other news, the FDA on Monday said that seven of 453 food and beverage operators working with food delivery platforms failed food safety and sanitation inspections carried out between Aug. 1 and Oct. 31 last year.
The seven catering operators that failed the “2023 delivery platform project” inspections carried out by the FDA and local health authorities include a Pizza Hut store in Hsinchu and an eatery in Hualien after their ketchup and peanut powder were found to have expired, Lin said, adding that each was fined NT$60,000 for breaching the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法).
A supplier to the Hualien eatery has also been fined NT$30,000 for providing dessert ingredients without an expiry date, and two beverage shops in Tainan were fined NT$30,000 each after their tea drinks were found to contain excessive levels of Enterobacteriaceae, he said.
A hamburger store in Keelung was fined NT$15,000 for failing to meet food liability insurance requirements, while a supplier of meat glue for a Kaohsiung meal box supplier was also fined NT$30,000 for not meeting labeling requirements, Lin added.
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