The Taipei Department of Health on Monday said its latest inspection of children’s snacks found four among 10 tested snack products — all containing seaweed — sold through online channels had heavy metal levels exceeding allowable limits.
Department of Health senior specialist Lin Meng-hui (林夢蕙) said the department randomly selected 50 children’s snack products for inspection and tested for preservatives, coloring agents, sweeteners, banned or restricted pigments, and heavy metals.
Department of Health specialist Huang Ching-yao (黃敬堯) said the children’s food products included candies, jelly, dried seafood products, rice crackers and other foods, and that 40 products were purchased from physical stores, while 10 were from online channels.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Department of Health
All products bought from physical stores passed the tests, but four seaweed-related products from online shops were found to contain heavy metals — lead and cadmium — exceeding allowable limits, Huang said.
The products are: a non-fry seaweed rice cracker product from Japan (寶寶食堂, 海苔仙貝), BEBECOOK toddlers’ seafood vegetable flavored seaweed flakes (BEBECOOK幼兒初食海苔酥, 海味蔬菜) and BEBECOOK toddlers’ creamy shrimp and mushrooms flavored seasoning flakes (BEBECOOK初食拌飯香鬆, 奶油香菇鮮蝦) from South Korea, and ibobomi vegetable flavored seasoned seaweed flakes (ibobomi海苔酥, 綜合蔬菜) from South Korea, the department said.
Ibobomi’s product is advertised to be eaten as it is or sprinkled onto rice, onigiri (rice balls) or other dishes, but it was found to contain a lead level of 0.078 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) — 1.56 times the limit — and a cadmium level of 0.295 mg/kg — 7.3 times the limit; while the seafood vegetable flavor product was found to contain a cadmium level of 0.493 mg/kg — 12.3 times the limit.
The importers of the four products are outside of Taipei, so the department has notified the health departments of their respective administrative regions for a follow-up, and online stores would also be asked to stop selling the products, Huang said.
According to current food safety regulations, the food companies would be given time to make improvements, but might face a fine of NT$30,000 to NT$3 million (US$939 and US$93,900) if they fail to do so within the time limit, he added.
Aside from selecting snacks, the department wants to take the opportunity to urge parents to also select more fresh fruit and vegetables, and provide a balanced diet with varied nutrition for children, he said.
“As infants and young children exhibit high intestinal absorption rates and have immature metabolic systems, they are far more sensitive to heavy metals than adults, so we suggest parents who have bought the batch of products [that failed the tests] to stop consuming them,” Huang said.
When purchasing snacks for children or food for infants and toddlers, consumers should check if products have complete packaging labels from clear sources, and the label should include the manufacturer, origin and nutritional information, as well as the intended age group, the department said.
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