Philippine Paper Bowls and German Calcium Effervescent Tablets Rejected at Border for Failing Inspections

Central News Agency (Taipei, June 2) - The Ministry of Health and Welfare's Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) announced the latest border inspection results today. Approximately 350 kilograms of paper bowls from the famous Philippine fries brand 'Potato Corner' and nearly 400 kilograms of German calcium effervescent tablets failed inspections and were returned or destroyed at the border. The TFDA released a list of seven non-compliant products today, including Vietnamese purple rice, Thai asparagus, Indonesian cassava chips, dried osmanthus from China, and Assam tea from India, all of which were returned or destroyed due to pesticide residues or other non-compliance issues. Fuchin Tree Creative Technology Co., Ltd. introduced the Philippine fries chain 'Potato Corner' to Taiwan last year. The TFDA announced in March this year that paper bowls imported by the company from the Philippines were found to contain fluorescent whitening agents prohibited for paper products, and 560 kilograms were returned or destroyed. Today, another batch of Philippine paper bowls was found to fail the elution test. Liu Fang-ming, Director of the TFDA's Northern Center, explained to the media that the paper bowls declared by 'Fuchin Tree Creative Technology Co., Ltd.' failed the elution test. When placed in water at 95°C for 30 minutes, the potassium permanganate consumption was 16 ppm and the evaporation residue was 85 ppm. When placed in 4% acetic acid at 95°C for 30 minutes, the evaporation residue was 843 ppm. According to the hygiene standards for food utensils, containers, and packaging, the potassium permanganate consumption must be 10 ppm or less, and the evaporation residue must be 30 ppm or less. Liu stated that the 350 kilograms of Philippine paper bowls must be returned or destroyed. The TFDA has adjusted the inspection of 'Fuchin Tree Creative Technology Co., Ltd.' to batch-by-batch inspection, with a sampling rate of 100%. In addition, a batch of calcium effervescent tablets (lemon flavor) imported from Germany also failed inspection. Liu stated that this was declared by 'Jiaheng Technology Co., Ltd.' and contained 2.28 grams of the sweetener saccharin per kilogram and 9.33 grams of cyclamate per kilogram. Based on the product's Chinese label usage instructions and content ratio, the concentration of saccharin after dilution is 0.05 grams per liter, and the concentration of cyclamate is 0.2 grams per liter. Liu explained that according to the standards for the use range and limits of food additives, the saccharin sodium content in liquid dietary supplements must be 0.08 grams per liter or less, and the cyclamate sodium content must be 0.4 grams per liter or less. When sweeteners are used in combination, the sum of the values obtained by dividing the usage of each sweetener by its standard must not exceed 1. This batch of 397.44 kilograms of German calcium effervescent tablets must be returned or destroyed. The TFDA has adjusted the inspection of 'Jiaheng Technology Co., Ltd.' to enhanced sampling, with a sampling rate of 20% to 50%. According to TFDA statistics, in the past six months, 509 batches of other prepared foods from Germany were inspected, with 3 batches failing (a failure rate of 0.6%), mainly due to excessive preservatives and sweeteners. The TFDA will implement enhanced sampling for other prepared foods from Germany from June 2 to July 1, 2025.