Next week is the Lunar New Year holiday. It’s that time of year for feasting, and especially for family reunion dinners. But Taichung’s office of food safety has discovered that some popular food items are contaminated, and have ordered them removed from shelves.
Taichung’s Office of Food and Drug Safety has conducted inspections of certain food items ahead of the Lunar New Year. Of the 224 items inspected, three were found to be sub-standard. They included bamboo fungus and almond mushrooms.
A batch of bamboo fungus was found to contain 5mg of cadmium per kilogram, 3mg per kg above the acceptable level. Another batch of almond mushrooms had five times more cadmium than is allowed. The supplier was fined NT$30,000 (US$1,070) and was told to remove the two items from the shelves immediately.
Meanwhile, a package of edamame with quinoa was found to be contaminated with E. coli. Inspectors suspect that the food was contaminated during production or packaging. All packs with the same serial number have since been removed from shelves.
The food safety office reminds consumers to buy from reputable shops and to only buy products with clearly-marked labels.