A well-known Taiwanese peanut butter brand has been ordered to temporarily halt production and recall its products after they were found to contain excessive amounts of aflatoxins.
Two batches of Hsinchu Fu Yuan chunky peanut butter (新竹福源顆粒花生醬) expiring on July 9 and Aug. 27 have been recalled after tests by the Taipei and Taoyuan public health departments found they contained high amounts of aflatoxins, the Hsinchu Bureau of Health said on Tuesday.
A third batch expiring on Sept. 10 also failed aflatoxin tests, the bureau said.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Department of Health
The firm has been ordered to recall all products from the batches that failed testing and provide customers with a way to return or exchange the products, it said.
Fu Yuan would be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$200 million (US$2,019 and US$6.73 million) for contravening the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), it added.
The batch expiring on July 9 consists of about 800 jars, 677 of which were sold and 123 of which have been recalled, a health official said yesterday.
The batch expiring on Aug. 27 consists of about 770 jars, 593 of which were sold and 177 of which have been recalled, the official said.
The batch expiring on Sept. 10 consists of about 700 jars, and the volume sold and recalled is still being calculated, they said.
Fortune Foods Corp, which owns Fu Yuan, said it would remove the products from shelves immediately and cooperate with health department inspections.
It vowed to suspend the production and sale of Fu Yuan chunky peanut butter as required and resume production only after the product is deemed to be safe.
Partner organizations have been informed to remove any products that failed testing, it said.
Customers can call (03) 5328118 to exchange or return any suspicious products, it added.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS