After testing nearly 900 Taiwan Sugar pork samples, the Agriculture and Health Ministries have not found any additional Cimbuterol. Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) reported the results on Friday and said that the central government will continue its investigation into possible sources of contamination.
Earlier this year, the Taichung Health Bureau found 0.002 parts per million of Cimbuterol in Taisugar’s frozen Pork Boston Butt in random tests conducted on products from the General Welfare Service store in Taichung. The additive is used illicitly to improve feed efficiency and growth rates in livestock and is banned in Taiwan. Taisugar’s product was immediately recalled and tracing launched which, as of yet, has not detected any additional Cimbuterol.
In his report, Chen detailed the Tsai administration’s promotion of its five pronged policy to improve food safety, pointing out that incidents have gradually moved from “systemic” to “single” issues. He said that this contamination has been judged to be just that, a single specimen problem rather than a systemic issue. Chen emphasized that, to reassure the public, the government has handled this investigation rigorously and will continue to take stock of possible pollution risks at each stage of the operation as well as equip more traceability mechanisms for Taiwan’s pork industry. He added that food safety and public health are the government's top priority.