TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that it seized around 398 kilograms of Kameda baby rice crackers from Japan at the border for excessive cadmium levels.

The products contained cadmium levels ranging from 0.042 to 0.049 mg/kg, exceeding the 0.040 mg/kg limit. The administration will return or destroy the non-compliant goods, CNA reported.

From July to January, 329 batches of Japanese baby or toddler cookies were inspected, with nine failing to meet standards due to excessive cadmium, the administration said.

Food and Drug Administration Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said the agency will strengthen border inspections of Japanese baby and toddler foods from Tuesday until March 3.

The administration also reported that 823.5 kg of Japanese citrus were returned or destroyed. This included seven batches of oranges with flubendiamide pesticide residues ranging from 0.01 to 0.02 ppm, exceeding the 0.01 ppm limit, and one batch of clementines containing 0.02 ppm of metaflumizone.

Lin added that from July to January, 314 batches of Japanese citrus were inspected, with 15 failing due to pesticide residues. The administration will conduct batch-by-batch inspections of Japanese citrus at the border from Tuesday until March 3.