No cimbuterol found in samples from contaminated pork batch: MOA

Taipei, Feb. 4 (CNA) Tests on the samples from the same batch of Taiwan Sugar Corp. (Taisugar) pork products previously found to contain cimbuterol returned no traces of the banned leanness-enhancing additive, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) announced Sunday.

During a joint press conference held by the Executive Yuan's Food Safety Office, Chiou Chwei-jang (邱垂章), the director-general of the Ministry of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency (APHIA), said that 45 samples were tested, none of which contained cimbuterol.

The samples included pork products from the same livestock farm and same slaughterhouse slaughtered, cut and packaged on the same day as contaminated pork that previously tested positive for 0.002 parts per million of cimbuterol, Chiou said.

No traces of the banned additive were found in four packs from the same batch of contaminated meat as well as 15 samples of serum, three samples of hair, and 10 samples of feed from the livestock farm that the contaminated meat came from, Chiou said.

No evidence of cross-contamination by other slaughtered meat was found following an investigation, Chiou said.

The MOA will expand the inspection of pork products, effective immediately, Chiou added.

In addition to having more inspections of all Taisugar livestock farms for pigs and feed, the ministry will also increase the nationwide sampling quantity for pork in the meat market, with a fivefold increase before the Lunar New Year, Chiou said.

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