A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.
Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit.
Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide.
Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration
The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all imported food items that fail the border tests, FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said.
The agency would conduct shipment-by-shipment inspections of the basil pesto imported by Costco from the same place of origin and with the same serial number, Lin said.
From Sept. 4 last year to Monday last week, the FDA conducted border inspections on 425 shipments of sauces from the US, weighing a combined 1,609.53 tonnes, the agency said.
Seven shipments tested positive for ethylene oxide, it said.
Meanwhile, two shipments of fresh strawberries, both imported by New Taipei City-based Fruit Paradise Trading Co from Japan, were held back after being found to contain excessive amounts of pesticides.
Tests found that the strawberries contained traces of mepanipyrim, bifenazate, flonicamid and fludioxonil in concentrations of 1.1 parts per million (ppm), 2.7ppm, 0.02ppm and 2.1ppm respectively.
The two shipments of strawberries were from the same company in Nagasaki, and imports of strawberries from that company would be suspended for a month, Lin said.
Over the past six months, the FDA tested 676 shipments of fresh Japanese strawberries at the border, with 30 failing inspections, mostly due to excessive pesticide residue, Lin said.
From June 1 last year, all fresh strawberry imports from Japan have been subject to shipment-by-shipment inspections, which would continue until at least April 30 next year, Lin said.
Apart from the strawberries and the basil pesto, 11 other imports of food items failed border inspections from Jan. 16 to Feb. 23, FDA data showed.
The shipments included mung beans from Myanmar, curry powder from Japan, fresh nectarines from Australia and juice concentrate from Malaysia.
The mung beans, curry powder and nectarines were found to have excessive pesticide residue, while the juice concentrate had excessive amounts of sulfur dioxide, a chemical that can be used as a bleaching agent, FDA data showed.
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday said that private-sector refiners are willing to stop buying Russian naphtha should the EU ask them to, after a group of non-governmental organizations, including the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), criticized the nation’s continued business with the country. While Taiwan joined the US and its Western allies in putting broad sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, it did not explicitly ban imports of naphtha, a major hard-currency earner for Russia. While state-owned firms stopped importing Russian oil in 2023, there is no restriction on private companies to
President William Lai (賴清德) is expected to announce a new advanced “all-domain” air defense system to better defend against China when he gives his keynote national day speech today, four sources familiar with the matter said. Taiwan is ramping up defense spending and modernizing its armed forces, but faces a China that has a far larger military and is adding its own advanced new weapons such as stealth fighter jets, aircraft carriers and a huge array of missiles. Lai is expected to announce the air defense system dubbed “Taiwan Dome” in his speech this morning, one of the sources said. The system
RSS