Expert meeting results in Taisugar pork case expected in March: TFDA

Taipei, Feb. 21 (CNA) The outcomes of expert meetings being convened this week to investigate the presence of a banned additive in a Taiwan Sugar Corporation (Taisugar) pork product will be disclosed in March, Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) said Wednesday.

The government's Office of Food Safety will compile the outcomes of meetings held by the TFDA on the butchering-to-marketing process Wednesday, and another held by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) on Thursday focusing on the livestock farm and slaughterhouse, said TFDA Director-General Wu Shou-mei (吳秀梅).

Those outcomes will then be released by the Cabinet in March, Wu said, without providing a more detailed date.

The issue surfaced when the Taichung Health Bureau reported on Feb. 2 that a sample of Taisugar's "Pork Boston Butt, Sliced" product obtained from a store in Taichung tested positive for the banned additive cimbuterol during a test conducted on Jan. 15.

A total of 0.002 parts per million (ppm) of cimbuterol were detected in the test. The presence of cimbuterol was later confirmed in a repeat test done by the TFDA.

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

The government then conducted additional tests on various pork products across Taiwan, and as of Feb. 20, a total of 91 pork products, including 12 from the same batch as the contaminated pork, had tested negative for cimbuterol, according to TFDA data.

Those negative tests left food safety agencies puzzled over how cimbuterol could have found its way into the one pork sample in Taichung, and the meetings are being held to come up with an answer.

Regarding the TFDA's expert meeting Wednesday, Wu said it will be attended by Office of Food Safety head Sheu Fuu (許輔) and 13 other experts in the fields of food safety, toxicology, analytical chemistry, and veterinary medicine.

Representatives from the MOA, Taisugar, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taichung Health Bureau, and the company handling the butchering of the contaminated pork will also be present, Wu said.

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