Shrimp Flavor Xian used expired bonito essence powder and other ingredients; five products pulled from shelves for violations

Text / Food and Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration, together with the Health Bureau of the Kaohsiung City Government, the Kaohsiung City Investigation Office of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau, and the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office, inspected Yurong Food Co., Ltd. in Daliao District, Kaohsiung City, and found on site expired bonito essence powder, anhydrous citric acid, and red yeast rice powder and other ingredients, which were used to produce 5 products including "Shrimp Flavor Xian Japanese Teriyaki," "Shrimp Flavor Xian Honey-Grilled Squid," "Shrimp Flavor Xian Kimchi," "Shrimp Flavor Xian Mexican Smoke," and "Germinated Soybean Health Powder (Red Yeast Rice)." A total of about 2,371.5 kg of expired ingredients and products were sealed and stored on site.

Because the above ingredients were expired, the aforementioned 5 products need to be fully removed from the market. The Health Bureau has ordered the company to carry out the removal and recall of the violating products in accordance with the Regulations Governing the Recall and Destruction of Foods and Related Products. Food businesses, based on their responsibility for self-management, should complete the removal of violating products by 0:00 on May 20 and may not sell them. The Food and Drug Administration has instructed and supervised the Health Bureau of the Kaohsiung City Government to refer the matter to the health bureaus under the jurisdictions of downstream product businesses to assist in completing the follow-up recall operations as soon as possible.

The Food and Drug Administration explained that preparing, packaging, storing, or selling food past its expiration date violates Article 15, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 8 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, and under Article 52 of the same Act such items shall be confiscated and destroyed; furthermore, under Article 44, a fine of no less than NT$60,000 and no more than NT$200 million may be imposed. Food businesses shall comply with Article 7, Paragraph 5 of this Act; when they discover that a product may endanger health and safety, they shall immediately voluntarily stop manufacturing, processing, and selling it and carry out a recall, and shall notify the competent authority of the special municipality, county (city).