Two batches of salsa imported from the US by Taiwan Kaldi Co were returned or destroyed after residue of ethylene oxide, a banned pesticide, was detected in samples, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.
A total of 460.8kg of the salsa, including mild and hot varieties, contained 0.1 milligram per kilogram of ethylene oxide, a substance prohibited under Taiwan’s Standards for Pesticide Residue Limits in Foods.
Ethylene oxide is commonly used in pesticides to control fungal and bacterial growth in dry food products. Long-term exposure might cause headaches and cancer, according to the FDA.
Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration
Liu Fang-ming (劉芳銘), director of the FDA’s Northern Taiwan Management Center, said that it was the first noncompliant case by Kaldi in the past six months.
Although products imported by the company had not previously been flagged, Kaldi’s spice and condiment imports are subject to 100 percent sampling through March 24, because the firm is listed as an “affiliated company” of a business previously found to have products containing Sudan dye, a banned industrial dye, the FDA said.
Liu did not name the other firm or provide dates.
Meanwhile, Sudan IV was detected in a 53.76kg batch of assorted pepper imported from Vietnam by Macroscopic Inc, the FDA said, adding that the batch was destroyed at the border.
From June 8 to Monday last week, one previous batch of spices from Vietnam failed an inspection due to the presence of Sudan dye, the FDA said, adding that it would conduct 100 percent inspection of spices from Vietnam at the border through Dec. 7 next year, allowing entry only after compliance with Sudan dye regulations is confirmed.
Other imports that were intercepted at the border for noncompliance with food safety laws included bamboo fungus from China, celery from the US, frozen tripe from Brazil, char kway teow from Thailand and cheese from France, it said.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
RSS