Mie Sedaap Rejected By Taiwan Customs After Finding High Levels Of Pesticides
Malaysian-produced Instant Vegetarian Tom Yam Paste was also denied entry as it exceeded the acceptable level of pesticides contained.
By Ivyna Ong — 07 Jul 2022, 05:55 PM
The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released a list of 19 imported products that were not allowed in the country
According to China Press, seven of those 19 shipments are instant noodles which totalled to 4,431.96kg imported from Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines, were denied entry by the Customs Administration due to a high amount of pesticides found.
The pesticide found is ethylene oxide, which is an industrially manufactured gas, that can be found in seasoning packets and dried onions provided in the packaging.
Among the seven instant noodle shipments, five of those belonged to the beloved Mie Sedaap which was imported from Indonesia:
— Mie Sedaap Instant Cup Beef Soup
— Mie Sedaap Instant Cup Chicken Soup
— Mie Sedaap Instant Cup Korean Spicy Soup
— Mie Sedaap Instant Cup Korean Spicy Chicken
— Mie Sedaap Instant Cup Spicy Laksa Soup
Taiwan FDA North District Management Centre Assistant Director Lin Xuyang said that ethylene oxide is a pesticide that cannot be detected in Taiwan
Moreover, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer listed the pesticide as a first-class carcinogen.
A long-term exposure to ethylene oxide would increase the risk of breast cancer and blood cancer.
Due to the huge amount of ethylene oxide residue found, customs officials will increase their import check from an initial 5%-10% to around 20%
Focus Taiwan reported that due to the high amount of pesticides, the instant noodles, which include 56.96kg of Acecook cup noodles from Japan, and 327.6kg of Lucky Me cup noodles from the Philippines, alongside the 4,047.4kg of Mie Sedaap cup noodles from Indonesia, had to be returned or destroyed.
Furthermore, a Malaysian product, Instant Vegetarian Tom Yam Paste, was also barred by Taiwan's Customs Administration as it did not meet the acceptable regulations
There were other substandard items that did not meet the FDA's requirement, including Lion's Mane mushroom and Best Camellia Oil from China, Queen Victoria tea bags from Australia, South Korea, the United States, and Croatia.
