More than 150,000 eggs potentially contaminated with high levels of pesticide residue have entered the market in 10 administrative regions, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Sunday night.
The agency has issued an emergency recall of the eggs in Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Hsinchu, Changhua, Yunlin, Nantou and Chiayi counties.
The Changhua County Public Health Bureau on Tuesday last week found 0.03 parts per million (ppm) of fipronil sulfone in a batch of eggs from a local farm, which was in excess of the permissible level of 0.01ppm, the FDA said.
Photo: CNA
The 626 cartons of eggs were immediately traced and recalled, but 543 cartons had already been sold to consumers, FDA Central Center Director-General Lin Hsu-yang (林旭陽) said.
In subsequent tests on Wednesday and Thursday last week, Changhua County again found contaminated eggs, prompting the bureau to notify the other nine administrative regions, where about 150,000 eggs with the same lot number had already entered the market, Lin said.
The FDA urged consumers not to buy or eat eggs with the traceability code “I47045,” and to return them to the retail stores or discard them if they have already been purchased.
While excessive levels of fipronil sulfone might not directly affect human health, high doses could pose potential health risks, Lin said.
The FDA would work with agricultural agencies to investigate the cause of the contamination, and continue to work with local health agencies to test eggs on the market to ensure food safety, he said.
Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) yesterday said that initial investigations suggest the contamination resulted from environmental pollution, rather than from tainted feed or the use of pesticides on the farm.
Yang Chen-chang (楊振昌), director of occupational medicine and clinical toxicology at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, said that ingesting large amounts of the pesticide could cause cramps, headaches, dizziness, stomach pain and nausea.
While acute poisoning is rare, accumulation over a long time might pose more serious health risks, such as damage to the liver, kidneys or thyroid gland, he said, citing studies conducted on animals.
Taiwan’s standard for fipronil sulfone residues are stricter than Japan, South Korea and the US, Yang said.
The fipronil sulfone contamination was the first food safety case in Taiwan that was handled using traceability codes, the Changhua County Public Health Bureau said.
The system enables the precise recall of faulty products and provides information to consumers and downstream businesses about a product’s quality, it said.
The Changhua County Department of Agriculture urged consumers to purchase eggs produced by the county’s “Fresh Select” suppliers, which do not include the problematic egg farm.
The Hsinchu County Public Health Bureau and the Taichung City Government on Sunday said that they have issued recall orders for the contaminated eggs.
The Kaohsiung Department of Health said a local supermarket would be fined NT$60,000 to NT$200 million (US$1,935 to NT$6.45 million), under the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), for failing to comply with an order to notify its customers of the egg problem.
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