A batch of squid imported from Hokkaido, Japan, was found to contain excessive levels of cadmium, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday, as it reported five types of food imports that failed border inspections.
The batch of squid contained 2mg/kg of the heavy metal, FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said.
The maximum allowable limit of cadmium detected in cephalopods (not including internal organs) is 1mg/kg, so the 0.29kg of imported squid would be returned or destroyed, Lin said.
Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration
Squid are known to bioaccumulate metals, as they feed on small fish, crustaceans and plankton, he said.
The importer, Gogo Foods Taiwan Co (博多食品), had purchased three batches of squid from Japan this year, and only this batch failed the inspection, he said.
Inspections of Gogo’s food imports would be raised from “regular randomly selected batch inspection” (2 to 10 percent) to “reinforced randomly selected batch inspection” (20 to 50 percent).
A total of 243 batches of squid had been imported from Japan in the past six months, and only two failed border inspection, which is relatively low, so the general inspection rate would not be increased, the FDA said.
Meanwhile, a batch of dried jackfruit and a batch of dried longan sold under the brand name Seed and imported from Thailand by Cowisdom International Investment Ltd (眾智國際投資) were found to contain the bleaching agent sulfur dioxide at 0.94g/kg and 1.4g/kg respectively, exceeding the allowable limit of 0.5 g/kg.
The FDA would also increase the inspection rate for Cowisdom to 20 to 50 percent.
Moreover, a batch of mixed spices from Malaysia was found to contain the pesticide profenofos that exceeded the allowable limits, and a batch of fresh asparagus imported from Vietnam contained the pesticides indoxacarb and tebufenozide, both of which exceeded permissible limits, FDA data showed.
The five imported food products have not entered the local market and would be returned or destroyed, it said.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,