Taiwan Intercepts Contaminated Chili Shipments from China, Tightens Food Safety Measures

Three shipments of dried chili imported from China, totaling 41,040 kilograms, were recently intercepted at Taiwan's border due to excessive pesticide residue. The shipments, imported by Show Go Co Ltd in Taoyuan from the Chinese company Ningxia Shun Yuan Tang Herbal Biotech Co, Ltd, were found to contain chlormequat, a pesticide used as a plant growth regulator, at levels exceeding the non-detectable limit.

Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) has established residue tolerances for chlormequat for only nine products, including barley, wheat, and wheat flour, but not for dried chili, which falls into the category of fruits and vegetables. As a result, the contaminated dried chili shipments have either been destroyed or returned to their country of origin.

This incident has prompted the TFDA to conduct batch-by-batch border inspections on chili powder imported from China since December 11, 2023, due to the widespread use of Chinese chili powder contaminated with Sudan red dyes in Taiwan. Additionally, since March 6, a total of 35 food items, including dried chili and chili powder, have been subjected to batch-by-batch border inspections for Sudan dyes and pesticides, regardless of their country of origin.

In addition to the contaminated dried chili shipments, eight other food shipments and a shipment of cutting boards were also seized at the border during the same period. These included a shipment of fish sauce from Vietnam containing a bleaching agent exceeding the allowed limit, a shipment of dried peaches from Thailand containing excessive sweeteners, and a shipment of seasoned perilla leaves from Korea containing a preservative exceeding the permitted limit.