The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is to increase the frequency of random inspections of cage eggs starting this week, Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday.
The move was in response to reports that pesticide-contaminated eggs from a movement-controlled farm in Changhua County were still making their way into the market.
The FDA on Friday said it received a report from the Taichung Office of Food and Drug Safety saying that they found eggs from Wenya Livestock Farm in a store on Monday last week, despite the movement controls on the farm.
Photo courtesy of the Changhua County Government
The store was asked to remove the contaminated eggs from shelves and to stop selling eggs from Wenya Livestock Farm.
Tests on the eggs also detected 0.05 parts per million (ppm) of fipronil and its metabolites, which is in excess of the 0.01ppm limit.
It was “unimaginable” that Wenya Livestock Farm continued to sell eggs, despite being placed under movement control by the central government, Shih said, adding that the ministry asked the local government to investigate and hold people responsible for the distribution of eggs accountable.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Global Health and Welfare Forum in Taiwan in Taipei, Shih said the FDA is this week to increase the frequency of random inspections on eggs in the market.
“The expanded inspections will be conducted according to risk evaluation,” he said, adding that he would not go into detail about the inspections, so that egg dealers would not have time to prepare.
Problems are easier to detect through unannounced inspections, the minister added.
Risk stratification would also be used, so the first target would be eggs labeled “C,” or “cage eggs,” Shih said.
The FDA and agricultural agencies would together review the conditions of egg farms, including stock density, and assess the risk levels of cities and counties, to decide how the inspections should be carried out, he said.
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