Hsinchu City expands formaldehyde testing for rice noodle products

Taipei, July 29 (CNA) The Hsinchu City government said Wednesday it has expanded testing of locally produced rice noodle products after several made by Hsinchu manufacturers were found to contain formaldehyde, a substance prohibited for use as a food additive and classified as a human carcinogen.

Hsinchu Mayor Kao Hung-an (高虹安) said at a news conference that the city collected 28 samples from 16 rice noodle and rice vermicelli manufacturers from July 16-27 and sent them to the Food Industry Research and Development Institute (FIRDI) for formaldehyde testing on Tuesday.

The results are expected Friday and will be published on the city's food safety website, she added.

Kao said the city was first notified by the Tainan City government on May 27 that steamed rice noodles produced by Hsinchu-based Ming Hao Enterprise (明好企業社) tested positive for formaldehyde.

Working with the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA), Hsinchu authorities inspected the company's factory on June 3, collecting four finished-product samples and two raw material samples while ordering affected downstream products removed from shelves and recalled, she said.

After preliminary tests on June 8 confirmed the presence of formaldehyde, authorities halted sales of the affected products, completed confirmatory testing, sealed them, imposed administrative penalties and referred the case to prosecutors for further investigation, Kao said.

On July 18, the Hsinchu City Public Health Bureau announced that three rice vermicelli products sold under the Nong Geng (農耕) and Feng Cheng (風城) brands had tested positive for formaldehyde and were ordered off shelves and recalled, prompting accusations that the city government had covered up the case for seven weeks.

Kao rejected the allegation on Wednesday, saying the authorities handled the incident in accordance with food safety procedures from the outset.

The bureau said formaldehyde is not included in the central government's routine testing program for rice noodle products, which instead focuses on sulfur dioxide, hydrogen peroxide, preservatives, microorganisms and heavy metals.

It said the contamination came to light only because Tainan authorities had expanded their testing of noodle products, and urged the central government to add formaldehyde to routine risk monitoring and self-inspection programs for rice noodle products.