Taichung hand-shaken tea pesticide fipronil exceeds limits: Yuanqi, Mr.Wish, George Peck, Leisure Station listed
Taichung City Health Bureau launched the third wave of its "Chain Hand-Shaken Beverage Operator Inspection Program" on April 23, conducting spot checks on tea beverage head offices. As of May 4, it had inspected 18 establishments and sampled 55 tea leaf ingredients or products, of which 4 were found to have pesticide residue fipronil exceeding the limit, with a total of 363.3 kg removed from shelves:
1. Upstream Nantou County Chengpin Tea Co., which shipped to the following three hand-shaken tea shops:
(1) The "Tieguanyin" (Iron Goddess) sold by Yuanqi Xianpaocha in the North District (Yikafu Co., Ltd.) tested positive for fipronil at 0.003 ppm (standard: 0.002 ppm); the source supplier was identified as Yimei Co., Ltd. of Kaohsiung City.
(2) The "Black Tea A" sold by Mr. Wish (Hope Creation Enterprise Co., Ltd.) in Xitun District.
(3) The "Black Tea" sold by the George Peck Coffee Fresh Fruit Smoothie chain in Fengyuan District tested positive for fipronil at 0.006 ppm and 0.017 ppm respectively.
2. Upstream Ten Ren Tea supplied to Leisure Station
(1) The "Black Tea" sold by Leisure Station in Fengyuan District (Leisure Station Co., Ltd.) tested positive for fipronil at 0.003 ppm; the source supplier was Ten Ren Tea Co., Ltd. of Taipei City.
The Health Bureau not only notified the tea shops immediately to remove the products from shelves, recall them and return them to the upstream suppliers, but also sent official letters to the competent health bureaus in their jurisdictions for follow-up investigation.
According to the person in charge surnamed Liu of "Yuanqi Xianpaocha," all 8 stores nationwide have stopped supplying Tieguanyin and removed 2.6 kg from shelves (13 g per pack). In addition, the person in charge surnamed Zeng of "Mr. Wish" said the black tea A that tested positive was used only at the two directly operated stores in Taichung's Donghai and Fengchia areas, with a total of 10 kg removed from shelves. Manager Lin of "George Peck" said the batch of over-limit black tea was a customized product, supplied only to the Taichung Qinmei store, and 10.2 kg had been recalled. As for Leisure Station, all stores nationwide have recalled 340.5 kg (300 g per pack).
The Health Bureau stated that if pesticide residue exceeding the safe tolerance level is detected, it violates Article 15, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 5 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, and under Article 44 of the same Act, a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$200 million may be imposed.
Health Bureau Director Xu Yongnian called on tea beverage operators to implement self-management, conduct their own testing or submit samples to other testing institutions and retain the test reports for inspection. He also reminded relevant operators once again that if they discover products that may endanger health and safety, they should immediately stop manufacturing, processing and selling, and proactively report to the Health Bureau to carry out removal and recall operations to prevent products from entering the market. Violators will be fined NT$30,000 to NT$3 million under Article 47 of the same Act. In addition, to ensure consumer drinking safety, illegal operators will be strictly dealt with in accordance with the law to safeguard the public's food safety.
As the tea beverage scandal continues to grow, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will implement a "mandatory inspection" and "traceability tracking" program for tea factories and imported tea importers with capital of NT$30 million or more, expected to be implemented by the end of July at the earliest.