DDT Detected in Rose Ingredient of UK Blue; Experts Call for Clarifying the Source of the Growing Location
The rose flower tea ingredient "roses" imported by the well-known hand-shaken beverage chain "UK Blue" was found by the Miaoli County Health Bureau in spot testing to contain multiple pesticide residues that did not meet regulations, among which was also detected the insecticide DDT, which was banned as early as the 60th year of the Republic of China. The operator said this batch of ingredients came from Germany, and the inspection reports provided by the manufacturer were all qualified, so they really did not know where the problem had occurred. Experts pointed out that if the ingredient came from Germany, it was very likely that Germany had imported it from backward countries that had not yet banned DDT, and government agencies must clarify where the growing location was.
UK Blue: More than ten years of cooperation, no problems at all
UK Blue has long purchased imported rose ingredients from Taipei City's Zhoujie Trading Company to make its beverages. Mr. Lin, manager of UK Blue, said that it had already cooperated with Zhoujie Company for more than ten years, that past ingredients had never had problems, and that spot tests by the Health Bureau every year had also been qualified. This time pesticides were detected, and honestly speaking, he was also very surprised.
In this spot test by the Miaoli County Health Bureau of UK Blue's imported flower tea ingredient roses, the insecticide DDT was detected at a concentration as high as 1.4ppm. In addition, a metabolite of the insecticide DDT was also detected. In response, Li Hongping, former deputy director of the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute's Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute, admitted frankly that such a concentration level had already exceeded the environmental residual background value.
Expert: DDT concentration exceeds environmental background value, may come from backward countries
Li Hongping explained that roses are not a long-term crop. If the detected content were only a trace amount of 0.01ppm, then it would very likely be environmental residue after the ban. Taiwan already banned the use of DDT in the 60th year of the Republic of China, and it must be zero detection. The European Union also bans it, and the European Union's regulations on pesticides are stricter than Taiwan's, so she guessed that this batch of roses was very likely imported by the German manufacturer from countries that had not yet banned DDT.
Li Hongping emphasized that DDT is a very good insecticide, but because it is fat-soluble, it causes environmental residue, and it must be eaten every day over the long term for it to possibly accumulate in human body fat, so DDT will not cause acute death, and the public does not need to panic too much. She believed that at the current stage, clarifying the source of the growing location was the primary task, and only after that could there be discussion of whether the government's spot-test management mechanism needed to change.
Organic rose operator: If it is too fragrant and too bright, it is best to be careful
"Meikai Sidi," which helped Wu Pao-chun win the championship at the World Bread Competition, is one of the few operators in the country growing organic roses. Orchard owner Guo Yiping said that if operators import edible flower ingredients from abroad, it is best to conduct another spot test, because after all it is impossible to know for certain whether the report provided by the importer is the farm's spot-test result or something else.
Generally, commercially sold herbal teas for hand-shaken cups are priced at around 50. Guo Yiping mentioned that, taking domestically grown organic roses as an example, the cost of one kilogram is as high as more than 10,000 yuan. By comparison, one can imagine that for ordinary hand-shaken herbal teas, the grade of imported flower ingredients will not be too high, because natural edible flowers oxidize in color over time. If it is judged that the herbal tea's fragrance is too strong or the ingredients are too brightly colored, it is best to pay special attention.
The Taipei City Health Bureau already investigated overnight the rose importer "Zhoujie Trading Company." If the violation is verified as true, a fine of 60,000 to 200 million yuan will be imposed under the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, and the operator also does not need to stop production, processing, sales, and recall measures. At present, 26 UK Blue stores in Taipei City have stopped supplying rose tea. The operator said that the problematic batch of rose ingredients was removed from shelves nationwide last week.
For more professional agricultural science and technology information, please scan the QR code to follow WeChat: NongXunNET
Please indicate the source when reprinting.