About 138kg of a Costco cheese product found with traces of a potentially cancer-inducing chemical last week has been recalled, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday, as it sought to allay public concerns about previous imports of the product by the US wholesaler.
The FDA on Saturday said that a batch of cheese product imported by Costco from the US — Formaggio Fresh Mozzarella, 0.68kg per pack — was found to contain ethylene oxide residue during a border inspection and blocked from entry.
Tests of the product showed ethylene oxide residue of 1.407mg/kg. Taiwan has zero tolerance for the chemical, based on its Standards for Pesticide Residue Limits in Foods (農藥殘留容許量標準).
Photo courtesy of the Taoyuan Department of Public Health
As a previous batch of the cheese product imported by Costco has not yet expired, the FDA instructed the Kaohsiung Department of Health to inspect the US wholesaler’s warehouse.
The department on Friday reported that a pack in the batch had ethylene oxide residues of 1.277mg/kg.
The FDA ordered Costco to remove the remaining 156.4kg (230 packs) from its shelves and to recall the product.
FDA Southern Center Director Wei Jen-ting (魏任廷) yesterday said that the batch blocked at the border would be returned or disposed of.
However, 757.52kg (1,114 packs) of the batch being recalled, which totaled 913.92kg (1,344 packs), had already been sold, Wei said.
FDA Deputy Director Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said that as of Tuesday, 138.602kg of the product had been recalled.
Aside from the two problematic batches, 4,798kg of the product had been previously imported to Taiwan in seven batches this year, but as the product has a storage life of two months, the seven batches have all expired, Wei said.
The traces of ethylene oxide found in the product might have been from the spices in it, Lin said.
Regulations on the use of ethylene oxide differ by country, so while it can be used to disinfect herbs and spices in the US and Canada, it is banned in Taiwan, Japan and the EU, Lin said.
Ethylene oxide residue had been detected in instant noodle and ice cream products in the past, but this was the first time it was detected in cheese, he said, adding that people should not be overly concerned as the concentration level was very low.
Moreover, the FDA has tightened its inspections of cheese products imported by Costco, increasing the sampling test rate at border inspection from 20 to 50 percent, Lin said.
The wholesaler might be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$200 million (US$1,921 and US$6.4 million) by the Kaohsiung Department of Health for contravening the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), he added.
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