Fresh grapes from Japan were seized at Taiwan’s border after they were found to contain banned pesticides, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Wednesday.
According to the FDA weekly report that details intercepted imports, a total of 250 kilograms of grapes supplied by Japanese firm New Yamanashi Wine Co. were confiscated after sample testing on Sept. 16 detected 0.01 parts per million (ppm) of cyclaniliprole, a type of pesticide banned from being used on grapes in Taiwan.
Lin Chin-fu (林金富), FDA deputy director-general, told CNA that under current food safety regulations, cyclaniliprole can only be used on apples, pears and tea.
Lin added that 0.01 ppm is the limit of cyclaniliprole that can be used on those products and that although the batch of grapes contained only a small amount of the chemical, they still had to be returned to Japan or destroyed.
According to Lin, a total of three batches of substandard grapes supplied by three different companies have been seized by the FDA in the past six months.
Meanwhile, two batches of instant noodles from Vietnam were found to contain excessive amounts of banned agricultural chemicals, Lin said, adding that a total of five batches of Vietnamese instant noodles have been seized for violating food safety regulations in the past six months.
Lin said the instant noodles were all imported by Taiwanese firm Han-Yu Food Enterprise Co. from the Vietnamese company Cong Ty Co Phan Acecook Viet Nam, and were found to contain ethylene oxide. The FDA is inspecting all food products supplied by the Vietnamese firm, Lin said.
Meanwhile, a batch of mangosteens imported from Thailand were also stopped at the border by the FDA on Wednesday, Lin said, meaning a total of nine batches supplied by six companies have been seized in the past six months.
According to Lin, Thai officials pledged in September to strengthen inspections on its agricultural products set for export, including conducting sample testing in Thailand and banning products found to contain excessive chemicals from being sent to Taiwan.
Meanwhile, also on Wednesday, a batch of frozen mangosteen pulp imported from Thailand was found to contain excessive levels of heavy metal, Lin said, adding that it was the only substandard batch found in the past six months and that checks on the supplier would increase.
The FDA also published a list of six other products that recently failed safety inspections, including chilli sauce from Indonesia, sorghum from Australia and fried chicken sauce from Korea.
Source: Focus Taiwan
