Seven cold drink, ice products fail Taipei inspection

Taipei, July 22 (CNA) The suppliers of seven hand-shake drink and ice products in Taipei will be fined after their products failed food safety inspections, the city's Department of Health announced on Monday.

The health department began randomized testing of hand-shake drinks, ice cream and other cold products and ingredients from shops around the capital of Taiwan in late April.

The results of the latest batch of testing released Monday showed that of 103 products tested, 25 failed an initial test, with suppliers asked to address the problem within a specified time.

However, when the tests were carried out a second time, seven items failed repeated testing for microorganisms, the health department said.

The seven items are from different stores, which will be fined between NT$30,000 (US$913) and NT$3 million for violating the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁), director of the department's Food and Pharmaceutical Management Division, said at a press briefing.

The seven items include Blackball Guting Store's four seasons spring tea, Truedan Neihu Jiangnan Store's fresh green tea with orange flavor, Hugdayday's oolong tea, and Hsin Yue shaved ice store's red bean milk ice.

Yokohama Steakhouse Breeze Nanjing Branch's vanilla ice cream, Matsu Milk Tea Wenshan Muhsin Store's Matsu milk tea, and Journey Kaffe Yangguang Store's chocolate banana smoothie are also on the list, according to data released by the department.

The department also tested eight dehydrated ingredients, with two items found to contain preservatives, Lin said, adding that the stores have been asked to pull the items and the sources of those items will be fined by the local governments that oversee the products.