A batch of rice bran oil imported from Japan and a batch of vegetable fat imported from the United Arab Emirates are to be returned or destroyed after they were found to contain excessive glycidyl fatty acid esters (GEs), which are potentially carcinogenic to humans, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.
The FDA’s latest border inspection results for 12 food-related items imported from six different countries, found that 8,294kg of rice bran oil imported from Japan contained 1,688 micrograms per kilogram (mcg/kg) of GEs, exceeding the limit of 1,000mcg/kg.
GEs, one of the main contaminants in processed oils, are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a group 2A agent, which is “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration
A 40kg batch of vegetable fat imported from the United Arab Emirates contained 2,634mcg/kg of GEs.
The products have not entered the domestic market and would be returned or destroyed, while the inspection rate of products from the two importers would be increased from 2 to 10 percent to 20 to 50 percent, FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said.
Also included in the list were two batches, totaling 3,943kg, of fresh cherries imported from the US, which contained residues of a fungicide called mefentrifluconazole, which is banned on cherries in Taiwan.
FDA data show that 1,240 batches of fresh cherries imported from the US were reported for border inspections between Jan. 1 and Monday last week, with five batches failing inspections due to mefentrifluconazole residues.
The increased inspections of US cherries would continue until Sept. 30, the agency said.
A batch of barley leaf powder imported from China was found with the pesticide chlorantraniliprole and the fungicide dimethomorph, with residue levels exceeding the maximum limits.
A batch of lidded ceramic bowls imported from Japan was found to contain heavy metal lead at a concentration level of 175 parts per million (ppm), much higher than the 5ppm maximum.
Other items that have recently failed border inspections include Sichuan peppercorns from China, green tea bags from India, fresh lemons from the US, and fresh durians and frozen cut mixed vegetables from Vietnam, which were all found to contain excessive pesticide residues, as well as a food container from China that failed a dissolution test, FDA data showed.
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The government would cancel kendo practitioner Su Yu-cheng’s (蘇郁程) nationality if he is confirmed to have represented China in the World Kendo Championships in Milan, Italy, last week, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. “We have consulted the Sports Administration and were told that athletes participating in the championships must have the nationality of the country that they represent. They must also present their passports as proof,” council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a weekly news conference. “If Su indeed represented China in the championships, we suspect that he has obtained Chinese nationality.” The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the