U.S. fried chicken batter stopped at border for banned pesticide

Taipei, May 13 (CNA) A batch of fried chicken batter imported from the United States was among 10 shipments of food and beverages recently ordered to be returned or destroyed for containing excessive pesticide residue, Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) reported Tuesday.

The affected shipment, totaling 1,077.75 kilograms, was imported by the Taipei branch of Hasmore Ltd. a Hong Hong-based restaurant group, which has several subsidiaries in Taiwan.

The product under the name of Crispy Batter Mix was found to contain 1.4 micrograms per kilogram of the banned pesticide ethylene oxide, a carcinogen, according to the TFDA.

The importer will now be subject to 20-50 percent inspections at the border, rather than the standard 2-10 percent, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the TFDA's Northern Center for Regional Administration.

Meanwhile, three batches of fresh durian from Vietnam totaling 43,784 kg, imported by Z&C Fruit Trading Co. Ltd, Zhateng Enterprise Shop, and Trillion Victory Trade Co., Ltd., were also stopped at the border for containing the heavy metal cadmium, with concentration levels ranging from 0.07 mg/kg to 0.18 mg/kg, above the national safety limit of 0.05 mg/kg, according to Cheng.

The TFDA will now impose batch-by-batch inspections for cadmium on the three importers, rather than the previous 20-50 percent.

According to the TFDA, 313 batches of fresh durian from Vietnam were inspected at the border from Nov. 5, 2024 to May 5, 2025, with four, or 1.3 percent failing inspections for containing excessive levels of the heavy metal.

Chen noted that fresh durian from Vietnam is subject to 20-50 percent inspections at the border from April 1 to June 12 this year.

Other problematic imports included fresh blueberries imported from Japan, partially fermented fragment tea from Vietnam, cumin seeds from India, wake-up carbonated drink from Vietnam and dried chili from China.