The week-long food scare continues to widen as health authorities yesterday said that some products made by Hong Shing Pharmaceutical (宏星製藥), a well-known manufacturer of medicinal and health supplements which has Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification, are suspected of containing contaminated clouding agents.
Department of Health officials said the latest round of investigations into manufacturers whose supply chain contains clouding agents manufactured by Yu Shen Chemical Co (昱伸香料有限公司), as well as companies that source their materials from Yu Shen, have found that Hong Shing’s lactic acid bacteria, a type of health supplement, is thought to contain clouding agents laced with the chemical di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP.
RESTRICTED
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
More than 400 boxes of the lactic acid bacteria made by Hong Shing have been sealed and stopped from being sold, said Feng Ren-lan (馮潤蘭), a deputy section chief at the Food and Drug Administration.
The department yesterday also conducted spot checks at clinics and pharmacies to see if all tainted products had been pulled off the shelves.
The operation was part of a broader move by the department to crack down on products tainted with DEHP.
Department officials said strawberry and grape-flavored syrup sold by Chuanlin Co to local pharmacies and clinics were found to be tainted with DEHP. The syrup was produced by a downstream firm of Yu Shen Chemical Co.
Clouding agents, legal food additives made from gum arabic, palm oil and emulsifier, are commonly used in fruit jelly, yogurt mix powder, juices and other beverages to keep emulsions evenly dispersed and enhance viscosity.
In the past few days, authorities discovered that Yu Shen and Pin Han Perfumery Co (賓漢香料公司), based in Tucheng District (土城), New Taipei City (新北市), were allegedly illegally adding chemicals to clouding agents.
TWO TYPES
While Yu Shen allegedly used DEHP, Pin Han was reported to have used the chemical diisononyl phthalate (DINP), which is similar to DEHP.
The department said both DINP and DEHP are legal when used in the manufacture of plastic products, but cannot legally be used in food additives.
The department on Friday required that all products containing clouding agents be pulled off the shelves. Manufacturers must prove to the government that their products are DEHP-free by today, before they will be allowed to put their products back on the market.
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS