Shipments of condiments imported from the US and Indonesia were recently intercepted at the border because they contained a banned pesticide and excessive amounts of sulfur dioxide, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said today.
The agency publishes a weekly list of items intercepted at the border in recent weeks.
Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration
Today's list had 30 imported items, including 122kg of Tabasco Habanero Sauce from the US.
The shipment was intercepted because it contained the carcinogenic pesticide ethylene oxide, which is banned in Taiwan.
FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said that over the past six months, 23 shipments of condiments from the US have been found to violate relevant Taiwanese regulations.
US officials have responded to Taiwan's complaints, and Taiwan would keep watch on related items until the end of this month, he said.
If violations persist, all importers that have brought in subpar condiments would be prohibited from importing products into Taiwan, Lin added.
The shipment from Indonesia of 1,117.56kg of "ABC, Sambal Bawang Pedas" sauce was found to have 0.101g/kg of sulfur dioxide, exceeding the legal limit of 0.03g/kg, the FDA said.
This was the first offense by the importer, Index Mulia Co, within the past six months, and its imports would be subject to increased inspection, Lin said.
Other intercepted items described in the latest report by the FDA include a shipment of lunch boxes imported by Step Star Co, Ltd, and five shipments of chopping boards imported by Star Smile International Co, all of which were imported from China and failed dissolution tests, the FDA said.
Lin said products imported by the two companies would continue to be inspected batch-by-batch.
Between April 28 and Oct. 28, 13 out of 665 batches of polypropylene kitchenware imported from China have failed dissolution tests, TFDA data showed.
Such items have undergone 100 percent inspection since Jan. 1, and the policy would continue for the remainder of the year.
Other imports that were flagged included fresh and dried produce from China, Vietnam, Japan, the US and Australia, herbs and spices from China and Malaysia, and other foodstuffs from China, the Philippines, India, Japan, Italy, Australia and Norway.
These were stopped at the border for containing excessive pesticides, preservatives or heavy metals, the agency said.
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