TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Two more batches of frozen pig feet imported from Australia were found to contain acceptable levels of ractopamine on Tuesday, bringing the total number of batches to three.

Food and Drug Administration Director-General Chiang Chih-kang (姜至剛) said all the pork originated from the same source but were distributed by different importers. Chiang added that the detected ractopamine was still within safe levels, making the pork safe for consumption, per CNA.

Taiwan began permitting the import of ractopamine-containing pork on Jan. 1, 2021, setting allowable residue levels: 0.01 ppm for muscle and fat, 0.04 ppm for liver, 0.04 ppm for kidney, and 0.01 ppm for other edible parts (such as pig's feet, large intestine, liver, pig skin, and pig casings).

The FDA updates a Pork Dashboard to announce the results of customs inspections. On April 29, a batch of 22.99 tonnes of frozen pork feet imported from Australia contained 0.001 ppm of ractopamine. 

The Pork Dashboard showed that two more batches of Australian pork, totaling 47.25 tonnes, contained 0.002 ppm and 0.003 ppm of ractopamine, respectively. 

Ractopamine, a leanness-enhancing drug, is also found in imported beef. To date, 249,609 batches of beef and beef offal have been inspected by customs, of which 2,493 batches were found to contain ractopamine, six batches were found to exceed limits and were returned and destroyed.

By comparison, Chiang said only three batches of pork have been found to contain ractopamine, which is only a fraction of the beef shipments.

"I hope I can be the director-general of food safety who can allow everyone to eat comfortably with peace of mind," said Chiang. He said the FDA makes testing results publicly available, but also provides information on the risks of consuming ractopamine.