Two shipments of chili powder, totaling 1,000 kilograms, imported by a Taiwan-based restaurant group from China were intercepted at Taiwan’s border due to pesticide residue, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported, quoting the Food and Drug Administration (TFDA).
“The shipments imported by Tofu Restaurant Co. were found to contain chlormequat—a pesticide used as a plant growth regulator—at concentrations between 0.22 and 0.28 parts per million (ppm), exceeding the nondetectable limit,” TFDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu said, as reported by CNA.
According to the TFDA, the seized chili powder was of the same brand, ‘Dkore Coarse Chili Pepper Powder,’ and was imported from a Chinese firm, Gansu Yasheng International Trade Co., Ltd., CNA reported.
In addition, 12 other items were also seized at the border for failing tests. This included a shipment of chicken spices imported from Singapore by New Taipei-based Kanaya Foods Co., due to high levels of pesticide residue, as reported by CNA.
Since it was the first time the company had violated regulations in the past six months, shipments from Kanaya Foods will now be subject to random inspections at an increased rate of 20 to 50 percent, up from the original 2 to 10 percent, Lin added, as reported by CNA.
According to the TFDA, all 14 shipments were either returned to their countries of origin or destroyed.
“After the presence of Sudan dyes—red synthetic chemical dyes banned in Taiwan for use in foodstuffs—in imported chili powder triggered health concerns in Taiwan in January, the dyes continued to be detected in chili powder imported from China and India,” Lin said, as reported by CNA.
He added that this prompted the TFDA to conduct shipment-by-shipment surveillance inspections of spices and seasonings from those two countries, while the inspection rate of similar items from other countries will return to normal random inspections.
If chili powder products are found to contain carcinogenic Sudan dyes at the border, they will be destroyed. Those found to contain excessive pesticide residue will either be returned to their country of origin or destroyed, Lin said.
(With ANI Inputs)
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