Supermarket, restaurants caught selling contaminated food products

Taipei, Nov. 4 (CNA) The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) on Monday published a list of sellers of contaminated vegetables and fruits, including high-end supermarkets and restaurants.

The name of these premises was made public when the TFDA announced the results of an inspection of 834 agricultural products jointly conducted with local public health authorities from July through August across Taiwan.

The inspection result indicated that 755 products, or 90.5 percent, passed the inspections, while 79 goods, or 9.4 percent, failed due to the presence of excessive pesticide residues or banned substances, the TFDA said.

Various famous establishments, including supermarket chain Mia C'bon and high-end hot pot restaurant Mala, were found selling tainted food products, according to the TFDA.

Daikon radish sold at the Miramar branch of Mia C'bon in Taipei was found to be contaminated with the banned pesticide fosthiazate at a level of 0.02 parts per million (ppm).

Meanwhile, daikon radish sold by an Uber Eats store on Dunhua South Rd., Da'an District in Taipei was discovered to contain excessive residue of insecticide thiamethoxam at a level of 0.46 ppm, above the permissible level of 0.25 ppm.

In addition, passion fruit used at Mala in Taipei's Xinyi District contained the banned insecticide cyromazine at a level of 0.12 ppm.

Coriander used at the Far Eastern Tainan Chenggong branch of Thai Town Cuisine was also found to contain 0.09 ppm of insecticide ethion, the use of which is prohibited for agricultural products in Taiwan.

Based on the Food Safety and Sanitation Act, fines of NT$810,000 (US$25,313) have been issued for 21 substandard food product violations, the TFDA said.

Apart from these, 45 will be handled by local agricultural authorities and 13 are being dealt with by local public health offices, the TFDA added.