Traces of the veterinary drug ractopamine have been detected in two batches of frozen pork knuckles imported from Australia, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.
The two shipments, totaling 47.25 tonnes, contained 0.002 parts per million (ppm) and 0.003ppm of the substance, below Taiwan’s maximum residue limits.
The legal limits for ractopamine in pork are 0.01ppm for meat and fat, and 0.04ppm for organs.
Photo courtesy of the Hsinchu County Public Health Bureau
The findings came just days after a shipment of imported pork, also from Australia, tested positive for the feed additive at Taiwan’s border for the first time since a ban on pork with ractopamine was lifted on Jan. 1, 2021.
The latest two batches were produced by the same manufacturer as the previous batch, but were imported by a different trading company, FDA Director-General Chiang Chih-kang (姜至剛) said.
The importer of the latest two shipments, Huahung International Trading Co, apologized in a statement yesterday for importing pork with ractopamine residue and pledged stricter controls to prevent similar incidents.
For beef, which has been allowed into Taiwan with minimal traces of ractopamine since 2012, 249,609 batches have been tested at the border for ractopamine, with 2,493 testing positive for the substance.
Of those, only six contained amounts in excess of the maximums and were destroyed or returned.
Beef and pork imports are inspected with the same emphasis on food safety, with scientific analysis backing the requirements, Chiang said.
Ractopamine, which promotes muscle growth in animals, is allowed as a feed additive for pigs in 26 countries, including the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and South Korea.
The EU and China ban use of the substance, amid concerns that it has a negative impact on animal and human health.
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,
RSS