TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taichung found 40,000 eggs tainted with the pesticide fipronil sold by a Changhua farm after the start of a transport ban, the Food and Drug Administration said Saturday.

The Wenya Livestock Farm in Pitou had been banned from selling and moving eggs to other locations on Nov. 5, but the tainted eggs in Taichung were bought from the farm on Nov. 9, the Liberty Times reported. Tests in Taichung showed 0.05 parts per million of fipronil, above the legal maximum of 0.01 ppm.

The shop which had bought the eggs from Wenya removed the remainder from its shelves, but it had already sold an estimated 32,400 eggs to 35 small restaurants.

The Food and Drug Administration issued a statement Saturday demanding an explanation from the local authorities how tainted eggs had been allowed to leave Wenya despite movement controls.

The Taichung health authorities asked Changhua to investigate if eggs from Wenya had also reached other customers and if the farm had broken the rules. Wenya was already fined NT$120,000 (US$3,900) for violating the Animal Drug Control Act.