Expanded tests in the wake of a food safety controversy have not revealed the presence of a prohibited leanness-enhancing additive in dozens more pork samples from the local market, the Executive Yuan said yesterday.
An additional 90 samples from the pork supply chain came back negative for beta-agonists on Thursday, bringing the total number of banned additive-free samples to 625 since testing began on Saturday last week, it said in a press release.
The nationwide testing came after health officials in Taichung last week said they had found 0.002 parts per million (ppm) of the banned additive cimbuterol in a type of frozen pork supplied by state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar).
Photo: CNA
The Democratic Progressive Party-led central government questioned the veracity of the result and the motivation of the Taichung City Government, which is led by Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
However, the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday confirmed that it had also detected 0.001 ppm of cimbuterol in the same pack of pork, indicating that the Taichung result was valid.
To ease public concerns over food safety, the Cabinet launched more tests nationwide, adding that an expert meeting is to be convened after the Lunar New Year holiday to look into what it called the “isolated case” in Taichung.
The Cabinet added that though there were no records of cimbuterol being imported into the nation as an animal drug or a feed additive over the past two years, there were 72 shipments of a combined 789mg of cimbuterol categorized as a chemical during the period.
Four manufacturers imported cimbuterol in quantities ranging from 1mg to 85mg, it said, adding that it would investigate their distribution channels to determine whether the product has entered the agricultural sector.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
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