A shipment of grape seed oil imported from Japan was blocked at the border after testing revealed excessive levels of a food processing contaminant classified as a potential carcinogen, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.
Testing conducted on March 19 showed that the oil contained 1.578 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) of glycidyl fatty acid esters, above the national limit of 1mg/kg, the FDA said.
Long-term exposure poses health risks, including cancer, the agency said.
Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration
The 10.66kg shipment was imported by Yumaowu Enterprise Co, the FDA said.
As the firm has been noncompliant for two consecutive weeks, its shipments are subject to stricter inspections, up from random checks to mandatory batch-by-batch testing, FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said.
The grape seed oil was among seven noncompliant products flagged in the FDA’s latest border inspection report.
All of the noncompliant shipments have been either returned or destroyed, it said.
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