High toxin levels found in well-known Hsinchu peanut butter brand

Taipei, July 28 (CNA) A well-known Taiwanese brand of peanut butter has been found to contain excessive amounts of aflatoxins, according to the results of mycotoxin tests on commercial food products released by Taipei's Department of Health on Monday.

A sample of Hsinchu Fu Yuan peanut butter, one of 30 peanut food products randomly tested for mycotoxins, contained high amounts of aflatoxins -- poisonous carcinogens and mutagens produced by certain molds -- the department said.

The tests on the 30 products were conducted in late April and early May.

The department found the peanut butter contained 4.3 micrograms per kilogram (ug/kg) of the aflatoxin B1, exceeding the 2 ug/kg standard, and had 5.0 ug/kg of combined B1, B2, G1, G2 aflatoxins, exceeding the maximum permissible level of 4 ug/kg.

Two peanut powders also failed the inspection, the department said.

Fu Yuan apologized for the contaminated product in a statement Monday, saying that it believed the problem stemmed from its peanut supplier and that it had voluntarily recalled the flagged product.

It also pledged to cooperate with all investigations and inspections and strengthen its quality control to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Meanwhile in Taoyuan, one of Fu Yuan's partner distributors also failed an inspection by the city's Department of Public Health.

According to the Taoyuan department on Monday, it initiated an aflatoxins test on Fu Yuan's peanut butter sold by Taoyuan's Wang Lii Co. after hearing from its Taipei counterpart.

Taipei notified Taoyuan in late May that Hsinchu Fu Yuan peanut butter sold at Carrefour with an expiration date of July 5 had tested positive for excessive aflatoxins.

While Taoyuan attempted to test a sample with a July 5 expiry date sold by Wang Lii, the company no longer had any product with that expiration date available.

A test was then initiated on another Fu Yuan peanut butter batch Wang Lii had in its stock with an Aug. 27 expiration date, and a sample from that batch also tested positive for excessive aflatoxin levels.

Taoyuan's health department said it issued a correction order to Wang Lii as the aflatoxin results indicated that it had violated the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation.

Failure to make improvements, the department said, could lead to a NT$30,000 (US$1,013) to NT$3 million fine for the company.

The Taoyuan department said that after all flagged peanut butters were returned to Fu Yuan, another inspection of Wang Lii conducted on July 8 found that its peanut butter met the required standards.

It was unclear as of Monday night why Taipei did not publicize the test results it obtained in May prior to Monday or how much of the contaminated peanut butter was sold to customers.