Contaminated spices from Egypt destroyed for failing border inspection

Taipei, Sept. 10 (CNA) A shipment of tainted coriander powder from Egypt has been destroyed after failing a border inspection, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) reported on Tuesday.

In its weekly report of substandard products seized at the border, the TFDA said the coriander powder imported by Taipei-based Rich's Spice International Inc. weighing 2,040 kilograms was found to contain toxic Sudan dyes that are banned in Taiwan.

The shipment was thereafter destroyed at the border, the agency said.

Another consignment from Egypt of 510 kg of marjoram, a culinary herb, was also seized at the border for containing an excessive level of the pesticide phosphine, which the TFDA recorded as 0.012 parts per million (ppm)

The two batches were among 13 problematic imports discovered during recent border inspections that included fresh pumpkins from Japan, fresh broccoli from Vietnam, parsley from Thailand, and fennel seed from China.

The Chinese fennel seed imported by Taichung-based Tomax Enterprise Co. was found to contain excessive residual of the insecticide cyhalothrin at 0.12 ppm, far higher than the permissible level of 0.03 ppm.

All the substandard imported goods will be destroyed or returned to the country of origin in accordance with Taiwanese law.

Due to the Egyptian goods failing their recent inspections, imports of spices from the North African country will be inspected batch-by-batch at the border over a yearlong period until Aug. 26, 2025, the TFDA said.

Other spices imports from China and India will also be subject to heightened levels of inspections until March and August 2025, respectively, for previous failings, the agency noted.