Imported melons, cakes blocked at border over pesticide, preservatives

Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) Shipments of fresh muskmelons from Japan and cakes from the Philippines were recently seized at Taiwan's border after testing showed excessive pesticide residues or preservatives, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) said Tuesday.

The 240-kilogram batch of muskmelons from Hokkaido, imported by Kaohsiung-based Yang Jhen Co. was found to contain 0.02 parts per million (ppm) of tetraniliprole, exceeding the legal limit of 0.01 ppm, the TFDA said. The fruit was returned to Japan or destroyed.

Following the finding, the importer will now face 100 percent inspection at the border instead of random checks, Liu Fang-ming (劉芳銘), director of the TFDA's Northern Taiwan Management Center, said.

Between March 8 and Sept. 8, the TFDA inspected 258 shipments of fresh melons from Japan, eight of which failed pesticide residue tests.

Liu said that since June 1, the TFDA has stepped up random inspections on Japanese melons, with sampling rates between 20 percent and 50 percent until Oct. 31.

Separately, a 537.6-kilogram batch of butterscotch cakes imported from the Philippines was seized at the border after being found with 1.2 g/kg of sorbic acid, a preservative, above the legal limit of 1.0g/kg. The importer's future shipments will now face enhanced random checks at a 20-50 percent rate.

Other noncompliant imports flagged in the TFDA's latest report include mandarins from Australia, radishes from China, broccoli from South Korea, and frozen sea urchin roe from Chile, all of which were returned or destroyed.