Japanese melons blocked at border over excessive pesticide residues

Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) Two shipments of fresh melons imported from Japan were recently intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residues, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) said Tuesday.

The melons in the two shipments were found to contain 0.02 parts per million (ppm) and 0.04 ppm of tetraniliprole, respectively, above the 0.01 ppm limit for the pesticide, according to the TFDA.

A total of 332 kilograms of melons were ordered returned or destroyed.

Liu Fang-ming (劉芳銘), director of the TFDA's Northern Taiwan Management Center, said the two shipments were imported by the same company, Chuan Yong Fruit Co., which has had three shipments fail inspection over the past six months.

Given that record, future melons imported by the New Taipei-based company will be subject to 100 percent batch-by-batch inspections, Liu said, noting that the border inspection sampling rate for Japanese melons in general will remain at 20-50 percent through Sept. 17.

The TFDA also announced on Tuesday several other products that recently failed safety inspections, including frozen peeled shrimp from Vietnam, tamarind sauce from Thailand, and nemacystus, a type of algae, from Japan.

Regarding the nemacystus imported by Yanran International Co., the TFDA said the product was found to contain 4.2 milligrams per kilogram of inorganic arsenic, exceeding the legal limit of 1 mg per kg for algae under Taiwan's Sanitation Standards for Contaminants and Toxins in Foods.

Inorganic arsenic is a toxic heavy metal that can cause various health issues.

The 3 kg shipment was ordered to be returned or destroyed, said the TFDA, which will also subject Yanran to stricter border inspections, with 20-50 percent of its shipments to be inspected.