Taiwan rejects Haagen-Dazs ice cream shipments due to pesticide residues

Taipei, June 21 (CNA) Two shipments of Häagen-Dazs ice cream were recently barred at Taiwan Customs, as they were found to be contaminated with residues of a banned pesticide, the country's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Tuesday.

The two batches of Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream, totaling 5,471 kilograms, were found to contain 0.071ppm and 0.072ppm of ethylene oxide, respectively, the FDA said in its latest report on substandard food imports.

As a precautionary measure, General Mills Taiwan, the Häagen-Dazs distributor in Taiwan, has recalled some of its vanilla ice cream products and is offering refunds to retailers and consumers.

The ice cream shipments were among several other food products that were recently rejected at Taiwan Customs because of contamination with either chemicals or heavy metals, the FDA said.

The shipments included 385 kg of chicken flavored cup noodles, imported from Indonesia by Asean VIP International Trading Co., Ltd., which were found to contain 40.542ppm of ethylene oxide, the FDA said.

In light of the fact that the use of the pesticide ethylene oxide is banned in Taiwan, the contaminated food shipments will either be destroyed or returned to the country of origin, Chen Ching-yu (陳慶裕), head of the FDA's Northern Center, told CNA.

The FDA's most recent list of rejected food shipments also included 60 kg of rosemary powder imported from Malaysia by Ko Lily Corp., which contained excessive levels of pesticide residues.

Shipments of frozen marlin from the Seychelles, imported by Golden Sea Management Ltd., and fresh broccoli from Thailand, imported by Tsann Lin Co., Ltd., were rejected because of excessive levels of heavy metals, according to the FDA.

Meanwhile, plastic products imported from China, including cutting boards and boxes, failed a toxicity dissolution test and will either be destroyed or returned, the FDA said.