Cities and counties preemptively remove Taisugar pork

Taipei, Feb. 4 (CNA) Several cities and counties around Taiwan have ordered some frozen pork products supplied by Taiwan Sugar Corp. (Taisugar) to be removed from shelves after pork from the same batch of products was found to contain a banned leanness-enhancing additive.

According to the Taichung Health Bureau on Feb. 2, the frozen "Pork Boston Butt, Sliced" (also at times branded as "TSC Safety Pork") supplied by Taisugar was found to contain 0.002 parts per million of cimbuterol after tests were administered on a sample collected at a General Welfare Service store in Taichung on Jan. 15.

The batch from the sample had an expiration date of June 10, 2024, the bureau said, noting that the pork was processed by Pingtung-based Sings Kout Trading Co. with its production overseen by Taisugar.

The bureau subsequently ordered the product to be removed from store shelves in Taichung.

On Sunday, Taipei, Taoyuan, Kaohsiung, Keelung and Miaoli County followed suit and preemptively ordered stores to remove the offending pork products from sale.

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) revealed that one pack of the product from the same batch was sold in his city, but the rest have all been removed.

Taipei's department of health likewise did the same, indicating that the batch's identifying serial number was 23121150490-52513.

The department said of the five stores that carried the Taisugar pork product in Taipei, none came from the same batch.

However, all "Pork Boston Butt, Sliced" have been preemptively removed, according to the department.

Taoyuan's health department also said that it had removed the same pork product from the city.

Meanwhile, Keelung's health department also revealed that while none of the 22 PX Marts and two General Welfare Service stores carry the pork from the same batch, all of the products under the same name have been removed.

Miaoli's health department, on the other hand, said the county had already removed the product from its shelves since Feb. 2.

In response to the ongoing concern over cimbuterol contamination, a leanness-enhancing additive completely banned in Taiwan, Taisugar's General Manager Chen Li-jen (陳立人) on Sunday supplied the video evidence that the substance was not introduced to his company's product voluntarily.

Chen said after the announcement from the Taichung Health Bureau, the National Animal Industry Foundation sent agents to Taisugar's pig ranch in Chiayi County to collect samples from swine hair and feed.

A report from the foundation published on Feb. 3 concluded that none of the samples collected contained cimbuterol, Chen said, further proving that the contaminant did not come from Taisugar.

Previously, Taisugar had proposed that cimbuterol could have been introduced via cross-contamination at Pingtung-based Sings Kout Trading Co., who processes the product for Taisugar.

On the factory, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) on Sunday said an onsite inspection to the Pingtung food processor on Saturday evening revealed nothing out of the ordinary.

However, Lin also said the FDA cannot fully conclude that cross-contamination did not occur just because no evidence was found in the Pingtung factory.

Taichung's Office of Drug and Food Safety also issued a press release Sunday, stating the samples from the Jan. 15 inspection underwent repeated tests to come to the conclusion that the Taisugar pork product contained cimbuterol.

The office said that while Taisugar has the right to ask for more examinations, no such request had been made as of Sunday.

Additionally, the office said if it were to receive a request in the future, examination and testing would be conducted in conjunction with Taiwan's FDA.

Related News

Feb .7: Cimbuterol found in contaminated pork retest: TFDA

Feb. 6. Health official criticizes Taichung's release of pork test results

Feb. 5: Conflicting pork additive results lead to request for further probe

Feb. 4: No cimbuterol found in samples from contaminated pork batch: MOA

Feb. 3: Taisugar recalls all Boston butt pork products from store shelves

Feb. 2: Taisugar pork ordered off shelves after leanness-enhancing additive found