TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a list of products that failed border inspections, including frozen sea urchins that contained excessive levels of the heavy metal cadmium.

A total of 16 products were flagged by the FDA for failing to meet safety standards, including Egyptian basil, Indian peanuts, and Vietnamese peanut crisp candies. These items were found to contain excessive pesticide residues or other violations, requiring them to be either returned or destroyed, per CNA.

Among the rejected imports were goods from Zensho Taiwan, the parent company of Japanese fast-food chains Sukiya and Hama Sushi. A 40-kilogram batch of frozen Chilean sea urchins imported by the company was found to contain cadmium levels of 0.5 mg/kg, exceeding the legal limit of 0.3 mg/kg, according to FDA Acting Director Lin Chin-fu (林金富).

However, Lin noted that only one out of 11 batches of Chilean sea urchins imported from the same source in the past six months had failed inspection. As a result, the FDA will not impose additional testing or special control measures on future shipments from this source.

Another notable failed product was a 6,080-kg batch of fresh yellow croaker from China, imported by King of Yangcheng Lake Co. The fish contained two banned antibiotics: 0.31 ppm of enrofloxacin and 0.03 ppm of ciprofloxacin, both of which have zero permissible residue limits.

Due to the high failure rate of imported yellow croaker, the FDA and Fisheries Agency have increased inspection and surveillance measures from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28. Lin reported that only one batch of yellow croaker has failed during this period.

Meanwhile, Japanese rice crackers have also come under scrutiny. Two batches recently failed food safety inspections due to excessive cadmium levels. According to FDA data, out of 317 batches of Japanese rice crackers inspected from Aug. 10 to Feb. 10, 12 batches were found to be non-compliant.

As a result, the FDA will conduct batch-by-batch inspections of all Japanese rice cracker imports until March 17. Lin added that the FDA has formally notified Japanese authorities, requesting an explanation for the violations and preventive measures by April 3.