A shipment of Korean Pepper Powder was among the list of items intercepted at Taiwan's border for failing safety inspections as announced by the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) on Tuesday.
TFDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) underscored that all imported chili powders undergo stringent inspections since March 6 of this year. This entails 100% batch-by-batch inspections regardless of country of origin, and only items that pass are allowed to be imported into Taiwan.
The shipment of Korean Sun Village Red Pepper Powder, totaling close to 109 kilograms, was found to contain three pesticide residues. Specifically, it contained excessive residues of tebuconazole and the banned pesticides flonicamid and etofenprox.
Other non-compliant products from this round of inspections include Vietnamese cabbages, Indonesian white pepper, Malaysian Bak Kut Teh seasoning packets, Korean pickled cucumbers, and American citrus barbecue sauces. These items were also found containing banned pesticides, excessive amounts of permitted pesticides, or prohibited sweeteners and preservatives.
According to the TFDA, all the seized items were either destroyed or sent back to their country of origin.