A total of 167 food ingredient suppliers face recalls because of toxic contamination in connection with an emulsifying additive, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.
So far, the plasticizer Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) has been detected in the products of 47 local manufacturers of food and drinks that unknowingly used the tainted ingredient, all of which have to be recalled, said Hsu Ming-neng (許銘能), deputy director--general of the department’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Hsu urged other manufacturers to send their products for tests to prove that they are free of the harmful chemical.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Taiwan is gripped in a food scare after the department confirmed on Monday that DEHP had been found in an emulsifier that is commonly used in fruit jelly, yogurt mix powder, juices and other drinks.
Investigations show that the tainted emulsifier products were either produced by Yu Shen Chemical Co (昱伸香料有限公司) or came from intermediaries supplied by the company.
Some of the tainted ingredients and products were believed to have been exported overseas.
Hsu said the FDA should be able to track most of the -contaminated items within the next couple of days, when the department will again write to the International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) under the WHO to report the details.
Hsu said he told INFOSAN officials of the incident while attending the World Health Assembly in Geneva earlier this week. The department later also wrote to INFOSAN via e-mail to provide further information, but the group has not yet responded, he said.
Among the products that were recalled yesterday were Taiwan Sugar Co’s (Taisugar, 台糖) “Turmeric Oyster Shell” supplement tablets and Hey Song Corp’s (黑松) “FruitHouse” probiotic powder and three other brands of dietary supplements.
Food ingredient exporter Poss-mei Corp said it has notified its clients in more than 20 countries to stop selling its concentrated juice products and await test results.
According to Possmei, the company will further inform its clients if the products are safe as soon as the results are available.
Passion fruit juice, mango juice and lychee juice produced by Possmei were on the DEHP -contamination-related recall list announced by the New Taipei City’s (新北市) Health Bureau on Wednesday.
The company also supplies bubble milk tea ingredients. Among its most well-known oversea clients is Bubbleology tea house in London, which has also expressed concern over the DEHP contamination in Taiwan.
Possmei, however, said that the emulsifier is usually not added when making tapioca balls — a main ingredient of bubble milk tea — making contamination unlikely.
Giant Union Co, a supplier of oriental foods and commodities in Los Angeles, said on Wednesday that it has stopped importing “popping boba,” a translucent gummy ball from Possmei that contains flavored juices and can be added to drinks.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS