60 kg of spice powder stopped at border for pesticide contamination

Taipei, Jan. 7 (CNA) The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) said Tuesday it had intercepted a shipment of fish curry masala powder imported from the United Arab Emirates found to contain excessive pesticide residues.

The 60 kilograms of spice powder stopped at Taiwan's border was found with 0.05 parts per million (ppm) of banned fungicide tricyclazole and 0.003 ppm of fipronil, which has a legal detection limit of 0.002 ppm.

The importer, Vijaya International Ltd., operator of the Indian food chain Mayur Indian Kitchen, will be subject to 100 percent pesticide examinations for its imports, TFDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) told a news conference.

Meanwhile, a batch of parmesan garlic powder imported from the U.S. was found to contain 0.4 ppm of the banned pesticide ethylene oxide, a carcinogenic, according to the TFDA.

In the past six months, 321 batches of condiments and seasonings from the U.S. have been examined at the borders, with 20 batches, or 6.2 percent, failing to comply with Taiwan's import regulations, according to records from the TFDA.

Therefore, such items from the country will be examined batch-by-batch until Feb. 11, 2025, said Lin.

The TDFA has also prohibited condiments made by 15 U.S. manufacturers.

Lin said that first-time offenders would be subject to a one-month import ban.

Those caught a second time after a suspension is lifted will receive a three-month ban, with possible indefinite suspensions for repeat offenders, Lin said.

Meanwhile, another 21 imports have been intercepted recently, as announced by the TFDA on Tuesday.

These include produce from Japan, South Korea, Italy, China, and the U.S., which contained excessive amounts of pesticide residues, a batch of fresh squid from Japan with excessive amounts of toxic metal cadmium, as well as a snack from Indonesia containing sorbic acid, a banned preservative.