TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration announced Monday that 82 fruit and vegetable samples collected between March and April failed to meet pesticide regulations.
A total of 611 agricultural product samples were tested, with 532 passing inspection for a compliance rate of 87.1%, per CNA. An additional 266 samples were randomly collected from produce already on the market, with 263 passing—yielding a 98.9% compliance rate.
Among the 82 non-compliant items, Japanese-imported strawberries were found to contain pesticides banned in Taiwan. One batch showed 1.13 parts per million (ppm) of isopyrazam, resulting in a NT$60,000 (US$2,014) fine for the importer.
Isopyrazam is a common fungicide used to manage plant diseases, though little is known about its environmental impact, particularly on aquatic ecosystems, according to the US National Library of Medicine.
The same importer was cited again for a second batch of strawberries containing 0.19 ppm of spirotetramat, another banned pesticide. Due to the repeat violation, the fine was doubled to NT$120,000. Spirotetramat is used to control pests on fruits and potatoes, but it is highly toxic to aquatic life and suspected of impairing fertility, per the US National Library of Medicine.
Iranian-imported roses were also flagged for containing 0.15 ppm of cypermethrin, a pesticide not approved for use on the product. In addition, a batch of white fungus imported from China tested positive for 0.32 ppm of imidacloprid, violating Taiwan’s pesticide limits.
Locally sourced cilantro from a restaurant tested positive for trace amounts of chlorpyrifos and ethion, both banned pesticides, at 0.02 ppm each. The FDA confirmed the cilantro was domestically produced and said further investigation and enforcement measures are underway.
