Imported mushrooms destroyed for excessive heavy metal levels

Taipei, Oct. 28 (CNA) A batch of mushrooms imported from China was among foods that were recently ordered to be destroyed for containing excessive levels of heavy metal, according to Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday.

The FDA made the findings public on Monday in its quarterly update on heavy metal content inspections conducted across Taiwan in collaboration with local health bureaus.

The imported mushroom samples were among 224 products picked for testing around Taiwan from July to September and found to contain an average of 7 milligrams of cadmium per kilo, well in excess of the permitted threshold of 2mg per kg.

The FDA said the mushroom sample collected was sold at local hot pot chain Top One Pot's branch in Tainan which was instructed to remove the product from its menu.

The administration added that the mushrooms from the same batch were ordered by the FDA to be destroyed.

In addition, the FDA added that a batch of edible lily bulbs was also found to have exceeded cadmium levels.

The lily bulbs product was found to contained 0.21mg per kg of cadmium when the nationally accepted level is 0.05mg per kg.

Moreover, as the supplier of the lily bulbs was unable to provide the FDA with documents indicating the product's origins, the supplier was fined NT$30,000 (US$935).

In terms of local products, two batches of locally bred sea urchins from the outlying islands of Penghu were also flagged by the administration.

With the FDA allowing only 0.3mg per kg of cadmium in sea urchins, the two batches flagged by the administration were found to contain 0.4mg per kg and 0.6mg per kg, respectively.

All the sea urchins from the two batches were ordered to be destroyed.