U.S. condiments, Japanese fruit stopped at border after failing checks

Taipei, Aug. 27 (CNA) Two types of condiments and fresh fruits imported from the United States and Japan have been seized at the border for containing a banned carcinogen and excessive pesticide residues, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) said Tuesday.

The two separate U.S. shipments of Mrs. Renfro's hot salsa and Old El Paso's enchilada sauce did not meet import criteria because they contained traces of ethylene oxide, the TFDA said.

The items were found to contain 0.1 parts per million (ppm) and 0.8 ppm of ethylene oxide, the administration said, indicating that the products would be returned to the country of origin or destroyed.

Ethylene oxide has been classified as carcinogenic to humans by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Based on information released by the Ministry of Environment's website, ethylene oxide is a toxic chemical substance that if swallowed or inhaled, could cause skin and severe eye irritation, as well as the risk of cancer, genetic disorder and damage to fertility.

From Feb. 19 to Aug. 19 this year, Taiwan inspected 351 batches of various imported American condiments, and 13 failed to meet safety standards.

The 13 substandard items all contained ethylene oxide, Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the TFDA's northern management office, said in a phone interview.

As such, the strictest measure of inspecting 100 percent of all batches will be carried out on the imported U.S. items in question until Feb. 11, 2025, Cheng said.

Meanwhile, 11 other items listed by the TFDA on Tuesday as having been rejected at the border in recent weeks included fresh mandarin oranges and strawberries imported from Japan.

The oranges were found to contain traces of the insecticide cyantraniliprole and will remain subject to a random inspection rate of 20-50 percent at the border until Dec. 23, Cheng said.

The strawberries, meanwhile, contained different levels of excessive pesticides, including fenhexamid, spirotetramat and acrinathrin, and will be inspected batch by batch until Dec. 31, he added.