The Kaohsiung Department of Health yesterday said it fined Costco NT$4.5 million (US$146,265) over contaminated frozen strawberries, while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that although the US company had filed an improvement plan, an import suspension on frozen berries could remain.
Three types of frozen berry products imported and sold by Costco have tested positive for the hepatitis A virus since April.
The Kaohsiung health department previously fined Costco NT$300,000 for not providing the sales list of a contaminated batch of Kirkland Signature Three Berry Blend imported from Chile, in contravention of the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法). It later fined the company NT$7.5 million over the same batch, for contravening the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法).
Photo: CNA
The health department said that it on Wednesday last week fined Costco NT$4.5 million for a batch of Kirkland Signature Grade A Fancy Strawberries imported from Mexico, which also tested positive for the hepatitis A virus.
FDA Southern Center Director Wei Jen-ting (魏任廷) said the health department imposed the most recent fine after assessing certain factors such as how many products have been imported and sold.
As the hepatitis A virus has been detected on Costco frozen mixed berries, frozen blueberries and frozen strawberries, the FDA had suspended the importation of the products between May 3 and Friday, and it also on May 1 launched an expanded random inspection program to test imported frozen berry products.
As of Tuesday, 77 items had been inspected, with one testing positive and 67 testing negative, while nine were still being tested, FDA Deputy Director Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said.
The FDA ordered Costco to submit an improvement report, explaining the source of contamination and its improvement plan, by midnight last night, he said.
Although Costco submitted the report yesterday, the FDA said that if the company does not clarify and solve the problem, the agency might not approve its inspection applications for imported frozen berries, meaning the import suspension would continue.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS