Taiwan recalls infant seaweed snacks over heavy metals

Taipei, Jan. 13 (CNA) The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) has ordered the recall of several brands of infant seaweed snacks after tests found excessive levels of heavy metals, including one with cadmium at up to 50 times the legal limit, it said Tuesday.

The TFDA said seven products it tested -- five of them imported from South Korea and two made domestically with raw materials from South Korea -- failed recent safety inspections.

A total of 25,047 seaweed snacks from six of the seven had been pulled from store shelves as of Monday, the administration said, while snacks from another vendor, branded Naeiae, had already sold out and were no longer in stock.

Liu Fang-ming (劉芳銘), director of the TFDA's Northern Taiwan Management Center, said the product with the highest lead level tested at 0.206 milligrams per kilogram, about four times the legal limit, while the product with the highest cadmium level tested at 2.013 milligrams per kilogram, roughly 50 times the limit.

Under Taiwan's Sanitation Standards for Contaminants and Toxins in Foods, seaweed products for infants and young children may contain no more than 0.05 milligrams of lead and 0.04 milligrams of cadmium per kilogram, while the limit for adult products is 1 milligram per kilo.

The products in question all had some indication that they were for young children, but Liu said infant seaweed products are not currently required to carry specific labeling on their packaging, which could lead to problems in the future.

With that in mind, the TFDA plans to refer to practices in other countries and consider whether to require foods for children under the age of three to be labeled as "infant food."

The agency will also consult with other government departments on adding dedicated tariff codes for products intended for infants, he said.