Indonesian sauces and fresh truffles supplied by several Italian companies are to be subject to batch-by-batch border inspections after such products recently failed customs inspections, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Tuesday.
Three batches of hot sauces imported by two Taiwanese companies from Indonesia were found to contain excessive levels of sulfur dioxide, a bleaching agent, and destroyed or returned to the country of origin as stipulated, FDA Deputy Director Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said.
Products imported by the two companies — one based in Kaohsiung and the other in Taipei — have been inspected on a batch-by-batch basis at the border since previous imports failed safety inspections.
Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration
The FDA would continue to inspect 100 percent of the two companies’ imports until improvements have been made, Lin said.
So far this year 16 shipments of sauces from Indonesia have been stopped at the border after failing inspections, FDA data showed.
From Monday next week to May 5 next year full inspections would be conducted on all Indonesian sauces, Lin said.
In addition, another two shipments of fresh truffles imported from Italy failed customs inspections after having been found to contain excessive levels of cadmium, a heavy metal, in the wake of a series of similar violations since the beginning of this year, the FDA said.
The two shipments supplied by Geofoods and Sassone were found to contain cadmium at a concentration of 5 milligrams per kilogram and 9 milligrams per kilogram respectively, exceeding the maximum permitted level of 2 milligrams per kilogram, Lin said.
They were returned to the country of origin or destroyed and did not reach the shelves in Taiwan, he added.
The FDA on Aug. 29 introduced random border checks on 50 percent of fresh truffles imported from Italy after seven shipments from the country were found to contain excessive levels of the heavy metal, all from three Italian suppliers — Faye Gasgtronomie Italia, Urbani Tartifi and Tartufi Morra.
At the time, the government informed the Italian Economic, Trade and Cultural Promotion Office and asked for an explanation along with improvement measures by Oct. 16.
No response was received and another notice was issued to the office, with it had been asked to reply to by yesterday, the FDA said.
Lin said the Italian government provided an explanation and presented improvement measures on Oct. 25, saying it would test the products for heavy metals before exporting to Taiwan, and consult with the FDA regarding testing methods and related legal regulations.
From Jan. 1 to Oct. 20, Taiwan imported 96 shipments of fresh truffles from Italy, of which nine had been rejected at the border after being found to contain excessive levels of cadmium, the FDA said.
Truffles supplied by the five Italian firms would now be subject to batch-by-batch inspections, Lin said.
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