Taipei: Three shipments of fresh black truffles imported from France and Bulgaria were rejected at Taiwan's border after tests found excessive levels of the heavy metal cadmium, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) said Tuesday. The shipments, imported by two different companies, weighed a combined 4.3 kilograms and were either returned or destroyed before entering the market, the TFDA said in its weekly border inspection report.
According to Focus Taiwan, Liu Fang-ming, director of the TFDA's Northern Taiwan Management Center, stated that the truffles were found to contain between 3 and 5 milligrams of cadmium per kilo, which exceeds the 2 mg per kg limit set by the agency. In response to this violation, the TFDA announced that it will impose tighter inspection measures on the importers involved, namely Evergreen Engineering Co. and European Arcade Food.
Since 2024, Evergreen Engineering has reported seven other cases involving excessive pesticide residues or heavy metal contamination in its food products. Consequently, the TFDA will require 100 percent of its imported shipments to undergo inspection. Similarly, over the same period, European Arcade Food has been linked to three cases of excessive cadmium levels in truffles. Following the latest incident, the TFDA stated that its products would now be inspected at a 20-50 percent rate.
In another development, the TFDA reported that a shipment of paper containers imported from China failed migration tests. These tests assess the likelihood of substances from the containers contaminating the items they hold. The shipment of paper canisters was found to contain excessive levels of evaporation residue and chloroform-soluble substances. As a result, a total of 134.4 kg of the products were ordered to be returned or destroyed, and the importer will now face 100 percent border inspections.