Japan's marukome miso warned as problematic by TFDA

Taipei, March 26 (CNA) The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) warned the public not to eat a miso product from the Japan-based food company Marukome on Tuesday evening, marking another food safety problem involving Japanese products recently.

In a statement, the TFDA cited records and said that 10 325g boxes of Marukome's miso named "プラス糀生みそ糀美人" (PLUS糀 生味噌 糀美人), which will expire on Dec. 31, have been distributed among local markets. It warned people not to buy or eat the product.

The agency made the announcement following reports by the Japan Broadcasting Corp., also known as NHK, and Nagano Broadcasting Systems Inc. (NBS), that cockroaches are likely to have been mixed into the product.

The food company has voluntarily removed 107,726 units of the product from store shelves, according to the reports.

In its statement, TFDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said the agency will ask local dealers to abide by Article 5 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation and report to the administration if the product is on their shelves.

Earlier this month, another case involving questionable Japanese products surfaced.

On March 24, the Ministry of Finance's National Treasury Administration said two Taiwanese companies would be ordered to recall a Japanese sparkling sake product after it was found to contain an ingredient linked to possible kidney disorders.