The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of hotpot ingredients in hotpot restaurants resulted in a 16.7 percent failure rate. Eight vegetables had excessive pesticide residue and two other items had aflatoxin and excessive preservatives.
As the weather is getting colder, more people eat at hotpot restaurants so a random inspection of ingredients was conducted in October to ensure food safety, the department said.
Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) said 60 different ingredients were tested: 15 high-risk vegetables, 15 processed food items, 10 soy-based food items, five meat items, five lamb items, five seafood items and five peanut powder items.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Department of Health
Eight vegetable items — including four scallions, three bok choys and one white radish — were found to have pesticide residues exceeding maximum residue levels (MRLs), she said.
Meanwhile, one tofu had an excessive amount of benzoic acid, a preservative, and a peanut powder contained aflatoxin, Lin said.
Some popular hotpot restaurant chains were among the list of restaurants whose ingredients failed the inspection, including a Xin Dian Hotpot (辛殿麻辣鍋) branch that served a scallion that had pesticides — methoxyfenozide and thifluzamide — exceeding MRLs.
A MoMo-Paradise branch was also on the list. It served a bok choy with fipronil pesticides that exceeded MRLs and cyantraniliprole, which is banned on vegetables.
The department has already ordered the restaurants to remove the problematic ingredients from shelves, Lin said, adding that it informed the local health department where the ingredients were produced so it could be handled according to regulations.
Meanwhile, the department yesterday also released its findings from a random inspection of fresh fruits and vegetables sold in retailers, traditional markets and supermarkets, and used in restaurants. It found that 19 among 51 sampled items — a failure rate of 37.2 percent — to have pesticides that exceeded MRLs.
The 19 items include six corianders, two scallions, two bok choys, two edible gynuras (a leafy vegetable), two papayas, two white radishes, a passion fruit, a chili pepper and an eggplant.
Random sampling inspection can only find problems at the market, but management at the source of food production is crucial for ensuring food safety, Lin said, adding that the department urges farmers to use pesticides safely and correctly to avoid excessive pesticide residue.
Consumers are encouraged to purchase seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables, wash them thoroughly under running water, soak for about 10 to 20 minutes, and then wash them again with running water before cooking, she said.
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