A well-known Taiwanese brand of peanut butter has been found to contain excessive amounts of aflatoxins, according to the results of mycotoxin tests on commercial food products released by Taipei’s Department of Health yesterday.
A sample of Hsinchu Fu Yuan peanut butter, one of 30 peanut food products randomly tested for mycotoxins, contained high amounts of aflatoxins — poisonous carcinogens and mutagens produced by certain molds, the department said.
The tests on the 30 products were conducted in late April and early May.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Department of Health
The department found the peanut butter contained 4.3 micrograms per kilogram (ug/kg) of the aflatoxin B1, exceeding the 2ug/kg standard, and had 5ug/kg of combined B1, B2, G1, G2 aflatoxins, exceeding the maximum permissible level of 4ug/kg.
Two peanut powders also failed the inspection, the department said.
Fu Yuan apologized for the contaminated product in a statement yesterday, saying it believed the problem stemmed from its peanut supplier and that it had voluntarily recalled the flagged product.
It also pledged to cooperate with all investigations and inspections and strengthen its quality control to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Meanwhile in Taoyuan, one of Fu Yuan’s partner distributors also failed an inspection by the city’s Department of Public Health.
The Taoyuan department yesterday said it initiated an aflatoxins test on Fu Yuan’s peanut butter sold by Taoyuan’s Wang Lii Co after hearing from its Taipei counterpart.
Taipei notified Taoyuan in late May that Hsinchu Fu Yuan peanut butter sold at Carrefour with an expiration date of July 5 had tested positive for excessive aflatoxins.
While Taoyuan attempted to test a sample with a July 5 expiry date sold by Wang Lii, the company no longer had any product with that expiration date available.
A test was then initiated on another Fu Yuan peanut butter batch Wang Lii had in its stock with an Aug. 27 expiration date, and a sample from that batch also tested positive for excessive aflatoxin levels.
Taoyuan’s health department said it issued a correction order to Wang Lii as the aflatoxin results indicated that it had contravened the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法).
Failure to make improvements could lead to a NT$30,000 to NT$3 million (US$1,013 to US$101,264) fine for the company, the department said.
The Taoyuan department said that after all flagged peanut butters were returned to Fu Yuan, another inspection of Wang Lii conducted on July 8 found that its peanut butter met the required standards.
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