The Taipei City Government Department of Health yesterday ordered two popular tea chains to suspend sales of three tea beverages after they were found to contain excessive levels of pesticide residues.
Tests also confirmed excessive pesticide residues in vegetables served to school children.
The three items were among 44 tea leaf products tested by the department in April. They were Orange Tea’s (橘子工坊) “four seasons tea” (四季春) and jasmine green tea (茉香綠茶) and Share Tea’s (歇腳亭) black tea.
Photo: CNA
According to the department, Orange Tea’s four season tea contained 0.09 parts per million (ppm) of the pesticide ametryn — the residue of which is not allowed in edible products.
The tea was a mixture of tea leaves manufactured by two different tea factories in Nantou County.
A retest is being scheduled to verify which of the two factories is responsible for the tainted tea leaves, the department said.
Orange Tea’s jasmine green tea was contaminated with 0.006ppm of fipronil, higher than the maximum permissible level of 0.002ppm, while Share Tea’s black tea was contaminated with fipronil at a level of 0.01ppm.
“The two tea chains have been requested to remove and suspend sales of the tainted teas. They are to fined between NT$60,000 and NT$200 million (US$1,960 and US$6.53 million) in accordance with the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法),” the department said.
Meanwhile, three of the 161 ingredients used in school meals tested by the department in March were found to contain high levels of pesticide residues.
Among them were rape greens served at Shilin Elementary School, which contained 0.33ppm of the pesticide boscalid, about 32 times the maximum allowable level of 0.01ppm; Taiwanese lettuce served at Beitou Elementary School, which had 0.05ppm of tebuconazole, which has a maximum permissible level of 0.01ppm; and oranges provided by the Wen Chang Primary School, which contained 0.05ppm of propiconazole, higher than the limit of 0.03ppm.
“The foods were unwashed when they were tested. We have notified the schools of the results and requested their contracted meal preparation companies stop using ingredients from the same suppliers,” the department’s Food and Drug Division director Wang Ming-li (王明理) told a press conference yesterday morning.
Wang said the companies were to be fined a maximum of NT$200 million.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
Weather conditions across Taiwan are expected to remain stable today, but cloudy to rainy skies are expected from tomorrow onward due to increasing moisture in the atmosphere, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). Daytime highs today are expected to hit 25-27°C in western Taiwan and 22-24°C in the eastern counties of Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung, data on the CWA website indicated. After sunset, temperatures could drop to 16-17°C in most parts of Taiwan. For tomorrow, precipitation is likely in northern Taiwan as a cloud system moves in from China. Daytime temperatures are expected to hover around 25°C, the CWA said. Starting Monday, areas
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS