TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Spicy shrimp chips, sold under the brand name Hsia Wei Hsien (蝦味先), produced by Yu Zong Foods (裕榮食品), were pulled from the shelves on Tuesday (Feb. 20) in Kaohsiung after being found to use red chili powder tainted with a banned food dye, Sudan III.

The Kaohsiung City Department of Health issued a press release where it said more than 30,000 kilograms of spicy shrimp chips in 366,841 packages have been affected by the carcinogenic dye. The affected products have the following expiration dates: September 8, 2024, and October 2, 2024.

Currently, just 1,300 packages of tainted shrimp chips have been recalled from the shelves. Public health authorities urged consumers and downstream partners such as 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, PX Mart, Carrefour, and RT-Mart, to cooperate in the product recall.

Public health authorities recall spicy shrimp chips. (Kaohsiung City Government photo)

Consumers who have already purchased the tainted food product with the above-mentioned expiration dates can return or exchange the product by returning to the original store and presenting a receipt and the product.

Hsia Wei Hsien claimed it was a victim of the food recall. The company said it unwittingly purchased tainted chili powder from the Yunlin-based food maker Chiseng Hon Ltd. (濟生), which contained Sudan III, an industrial red dye for textiles and not suited for food products.

Public health authorities had been tipped off to the tainted red chili powder produced by Chiseng Hon due to a related scandal on Feb. 8, involving a downstream three-in-one spice pack. This led to an expanded search of the company’s records, which revealed sales to Yu Zong Foods.

Public health officials are still tracking down the remaining sales of tainted chili powder produced by the company which is unaccounted for, including 372 kg shipped to Taipei, 914 kg to New Taipei, 275 kg to Taoyuan City, 30 kg to Taichung City, 40.5 kg to Tainan City, 12 kg to Yunlin County, 12 kg to Yilan County, and 72 kg to Pingtung County.