Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) on Friday apologized for the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) failure to immediately conduct batch-by-batch inspection when traces of Sudan III — an industrial dye banned in food due to possible carcinogenic properties — was found in imported chili powder at border inspections, and agreed that it is a systemic problem that needs to be remedied.
Testing of tainted ingredients and food products is to be completed in a week and food items with Sudan dyes are to be removed from shelves by the end of the month, the Cabinet said during a food safety meeting held by Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) on Friday.
The Yunlin County Public Health Bureau received a tip-off in early January — confirmed later that month — that chili pepper used by a food company contained Sudan III. Through tracing, more batches of chili powder imported from China were found to contain Sudan dyes. FDA statistics showed that 428,639kg of tainted ingredients and products have been sealed, removed from shelves or recalled as of Thursday. A variety of food products were infected, including chili powder, curry powder, pepper powder, blended spices, shacha sauce, kimchi, spicy hot pot broth powder and spicy snacks. Several chain restaurants temporarily removed spicy food and spices from their menus, while schools suspended the use of chili, pepper and curry powders in their lunches. The FDA imposed stricter border inspection rules — placing an indefinite import ban on several companies as of Wednesday — and importers of tainted chili powder and a food company that hid its disqualified testing result have been fined or are being prosecuted, but consumers are less trustful of food companies and are questioning the government’s ability to safeguard food safety.
A particular case highlighted systematic problems: A Taiwanese businessman surnamed Lee used relatives’ and friends’ names to establish 10 companies in Taiwan and one in China to import, process and supply tainted chili powder since 2018. He exploited a loophole in border inspection regulations — imported food items that fail random inspections are returned and inspection frequency is only increased if a company repeatedly fails random inspections — by shipping returned products under another company, hoping it would not be randomly tested. To close the loophole, the FDA on Wednesday said that it might amend regulations to destroy tainted food products upon failing a border inspection.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) said that seven companies — including four run by Lee’s relatives and friends registered at the same or similar addresses — imported chili powder that failed border inspections over the past five years, but no early warning was detected by the FDA.
The main sources of the Sudan dyes are an importer in New Taipei City and several companies run by Lee’s relatives and friends in Kaohsiung. They failed inspections in the past few years, leading people to question the agency’s oversight. The FDA increased the frequency of inspections of chili powder imports to every batch last month, but it must also conduct a comprehensive review of its operations, assessing whether there is enough long-term staff to conduct sufficient border inspections and whether a risk monitoring mechanism could be set up.
EU countries faced a similar challenge. In 2005, the European Commission added turmeric and virgin palm oil to a list of food products that must be certified as free of Sudan dyes to be imported into the EU. The Taiwanese government must keep in mind that improvement measures should not be limited to certain food products or be done for only short periods of time under heightened scrutiny. It should consider long-term solutions to prevent possible risks or else food scandals might repeat every few years.
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