Conflicting pork additive results lead to request for further probe

Taipei, Feb. 5 (CNA) More tests are set to be conducted following conflicting results surrounding the presence of an illegal additive in a Taiwan Sugar Corp. (Taisugar) pork product after the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) said it had found zero traces of the substance on Sunday.

The Taichung Health Bureau on Monday reaffirmed the results of six tests it ran that confirmed the presence of cimbuterol, a banned leanness-enhancing additive, in the samples of the frozen "Pork Boston Butt, Sliced" supplied by Taisugar, which it conducted for safety checks.

On Feb. 2, the health bureau first announced it had found 0.002 parts per million of the additive in the samples.

After Taisugar requested further checks on Sunday, the Taichung office said it would invite the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TDFA), Taisugar, and an impartial body to carry out tests on Tuesday. It added that it hopes the results will be released by Wednesday.

On Sunday, the MOA announced no traces of cimbuterol had been found in the 45 samples it tested. Those samples included pork products from the same livestock farm and the same slaughterhouse that were slaughtered, cut, and packed on the same day as the pork that tested positive.

Moreover, the additive was not found in packs from the same batch of the controversial Taisugar pork product, and in all samples of serum, hair, and feed from the livestock farm where the pork was produced.

The MOA also eliminated possibilities of cross-contamination at the slaughterhouse.

Meanwhile, Taisugar sent two samples of that problematic batch of pork to a private inspection laboratory on Saturday. The results on Monday showed no trace of the additive, the state-run company said.

Taisugar Chairperson Yang Ming-jou (楊明州) reiterated Sunday that the company does not use leanness-enhancing additives.

"[We] don't use [such a substance], period," he underlined, expressing his confidence that the veteran company, established in 1946, would be able to overcome this challenge.

Yang also apologized to Sings Kout Trading Co. for previously attributing the presence of the illegal addictive to the processing company, after voicing its suspicion of cross-contamination at its factory.

On Monday the TDFA released its test results on three samples taken from the same batch of pork products found to contain cimbuterol, and said zero traces of the banned drug were found.

TFDA Deputy Director-General Wang Te-yuan (王德原) told media reporters that the tests for 21 beta agonists banned in Taiwan were conducted Sunday and all the samples were found to contain no residue of the banned animal medications, including cimbuterol.

He added that two of the samples were delivered for the tests by Taisugar at the request of the MOA, while the other one was picked during a random sample selection at a PX Mart branch company in Tainan by the TFDA and Tainan City Public Health Bureau.

The MOA said that it will expand nationwide inspection of pork products fivefold before the Lunar New Year's Day on Saturday.

Related News

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

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

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

Feb. 4: Cities and counties preemptively remove Taisugar pork

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

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