A shipment of dried black sesame seeds from Malaysia was recently seized at Taiwan’s border after being found to contain excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Tuesday.
The 38,400kg of black sesame seeds, imported by Kaohsiung-based Long Weleare Industry Co, were seized after sample testing of the shipment sent for examinations on Dec. 15 detected 0.06 parts per million (ppm) of phosphine, exceeding the allowable limit of 0.01ppm.
The product has been returned to the country of origin or destroyed, the FDA said.
Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration
Phosphine is a colorless gas used as a fumigant for stored grains, FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said.
Lin said it was first violation by the importer, so the rate of inspections on its future shipments would be raised to 20 to 50 percent from 2 to 10 percent.
Phosphine is a chemical commonly used for fumigation to control pests in stored grains and seeds, Taipei Veterans General Hospital toxicologist Yang Chen-chang (楊振昌) said.
Since it takes a long time to ship bulk grain to Taiwan by sea, and insects and pests can infest grain in storage and shipment, fumigation to eliminate insects is usually performed after arriving in Taiwan and before the cargoes are sent to granaries, Yang said.
Inhaling high concentrations of phosphine can cause gastrointestinal disorders, bronchitis and pulmonary edema, and can even lead to death, Yang said.
The black sesame seeds were intercepted along with 12 other product shipments, including fresh white truffles from Italy, fresh grapes from South Korea and lion’s mane mushrooms from China, after they were found to contain excessive amounts of agricultural chemicals or failed to conform to regulations on the inspection of imported foods and related products, the FDA’s weekly report on intercepted imports showed.
Three shipments of fresh strawberries from Japan also failed border inspections after being found to contain excessive pesticide residues, the report said.
FDA statistics showed that, from July 8 last year to Monday last week, 13 out of 273 shipments of fruit from Japan failed to meet Taiwan’s safety standards during border checks.
As such, fresh strawberries from Japan would still be subject to batch-by-batch border inspections until April 30, while products from six Japanese suppliers would be banned from entering Taiwan until Feb. 11.
In addition, two batches of chili powder imported from China failed pesticide tests, and such imports from across the Taiwan Strait would be subject to batch-by-batch border checks until June 10, the report said.
In other news, the FDA on Monday said that seven of 453 food and beverage operators working with food delivery platforms failed food safety and sanitation inspections carried out between Aug. 1 and Oct. 31 last year.
The seven catering operators that failed the “2023 delivery platform project” inspections carried out by the FDA and local health authorities include a Pizza Hut store in Hsinchu and an eatery in Hualien after their ketchup and peanut powder were found to have expired, Lin said, adding that each was fined NT$60,000 for breaching the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法).
A supplier to the Hualien eatery has also been fined NT$30,000 for providing dessert ingredients without an expiry date, and two beverage shops in Tainan were fined NT$30,000 each after their tea drinks were found to contain excessive levels of Enterobacteriaceae, he said.
A hamburger store in Keelung was fined NT$15,000 for failing to meet food liability insurance requirements, while a supplier of meat glue for a Kaohsiung meal box supplier was also fined NT$30,000 for not meeting labeling requirements, Lin added.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
COMMUNITY SPIRIT: As authorities were busy with post-typhoon cleanups elsewhere, residents cleaned fallen leaves and cut small fallen trees blocking the hiking trails All hiking trails damaged by Typhoon Kong-rey have been repaired and has reopened for people who want a refreshing hike in Taipei during the Lunar New Year holiday, a city official said. The Taipei Basin is known for its easily accessible hiking trails. It has more than 130 trails combined into the 92km-long Taipei Grand Trail, which was divided into seven major routes when it was launched by the Taipei City Government in 2018. Last year, a part of the sixth route of the Grand Trail collapsed due to Typhoon Kong-rey, which hit Taiwan in October. The damaged section belongs to one
RSS