Plasticizer contamination spreads to more products in Taiwan
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Over a week after Taiwan launched its D-Day against plasticizer contamination, the number of listed tainted food posted a sharp increase.
Taiwan's food and drug department announced that 961 products have been found tainted by toxic plasticizers by Tuesday at noon.
The figure stood at around 500 last Tuesday and increased to 780 on Friday.
The island's health department attributed the increase to the development of the investigation of the clients of two food additive suppliers, which added cancerogenic plasticizers in clouding agents, a food additive widely used in beverages, jelly and jams.
In addition, 280 companies have been involved in the contamination case, up from around 210 companies listed last Tuesday.
In mid May, Taiwan health authorities found food additive supplier Yu Shen Chemical Co. illegally added cancerogenic plasticizer DEHP in clouding agents and sold toxic agents to many food and beverage producers.
Soon another additive supplier, Pin Han Perfumery, was also caught adding another plasticizer DINP in the clouding agents it produced.
As investigators traced the list of the two suppliers' clients, a large number of beverage producers, diet supplement companies, cold drink shops and even five-star hotels were found using tainted products.
The latest clients found by investigators were bakeries. On this weekend, investigators learned that Yu Shen had mixed plasticizer in fruit syrups and sold them to bakeries, which produced fruit-flavored bread and cakes.
The China Post, a local daily, quoted the island' s food and drug department Tuesday as saying that the department would not conduct an extensive inspection of bakeries because it was short of staff.
Instead, it would stick to tracing the distribution of tainted products from their sources to end users, the newspaper said.
Chiu Wen-ta, head of the island' s health department, warned on Tuesday that distributors would face serious punishment if they don't report to the authorities that they had bought tainted products from Yu Shen or Pin Han.
Those who fail to report or try to elude investigations will be suspended from operation and even have their licenses revoked, Chiu said.
Since May 31, producers of five categories of food and beverages have been required to present certificates showing that their products are free of six types of plasticizers before the products can be put back on store shelves.
The five categories of products are sports drinks, juices, tea drinks, fruit jams, fruit syrups and jellies, as well as dietary supplements in capsule, tablet or powder form, which all usually contain clouding agents.
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