TAIPEI (Taiwan News) –Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a list of products that failed border inspections, including A.1. steak sauce found to contain the carcinogen ethylene oxide.
The FDA said 15 products failed inspections, such as a Myanmar curry powder and a Singapore laksa paste. Products that violate safety standards need to be returned, transported out of Taiwan, or destroyed.
The other two U.S. products brought by Grand Global include Briannas French vinaigrette dressing and smoked chipotle with lime marinade. All three sauces had ethylene oxide, which was previously detected and led to a ban on Domino’s pizza sauce concentrate.
FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) told CNA that between Dec. 3 and June 3, 409 batches of sauces imported from the U.S. were inspected, of which eight were found unqualified, or 1.96% of the total. Failing to pass inspection can lead to increased testing for an importer.
Yen Tzung-hai (顏宗海), director of the Clinical Poison Center at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, said ethylene oxide is listed as a first-level carcinogen by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Only a few countries, such as the U.S. and Canada, allow ethylene oxide, often used as a sterilizing agent for spices and sesame seeds.
Yen said long-term exposure to ethylene oxide may increase the risk of blood cancer and lymphoma and cause lesions in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Even trace amounts are still suspected of causing cancer.
Other items that failed inspection include Hathi cumin seeds from India containing 20 pesticide residues, including ethylene oxide, tricyclazole, ethion, and fluxapyroxad. Ten kilograms were in violation, and other products from the same origin and serial number will be inspected batch by batch.
Jubilee’s Kitchen pepper pickled cabbage imported from China contained an excess of 0.05g/kg of the preservative dehydroacetic acid. Lin said this item is not permitted in pickled cabbage, and 435 kilograms were returned, transported, or destroyed.
