Taiwan Chili Powder Controversy: The Spread of Carcinogenic Ingredients and School Meal Bans

2024-03-07 01:18:45

“Sudan Red” chili powder containing carcinogenic ingredients has spread across Taiwan, and famous food companies have been targeted one after another. The New Taipei City Education Bureau fired the first shot on the 6th, announcing that the use of chili powder and curry powder will be suspended in the lunches of 336 schools below high school in the city. Wait for seasoning. Except for Hualien, which is still under discussion, 15 opposition counties and cities including Taipei City, Hsinchu City, and Miaoli County followed suit last night, while the five counties and cities governed by the Democratic Progressive Party did not follow up on the “school meal ban on powdered noodles.” One country, two systems emerged due to political stance.

Related News: What is Sudan Red? What is the list of affected foods? What should I do if I eat it?

None of the 5 counties and cities in power of the DPP will follow suit

The raw material of industrial Sudan Pigment No. 3 (commonly known as Sudan Red) was detected on February 6 in the black peppercorns and four-in-one household seasoning combination fine pink pepper products manufactured and sold by Jisheng Co., Ltd. Douliu Factory, Yunlin The health bureau went to the factory for inspection and went to the hypermarket for sampling inspection. After the test confirmed that it contained “Sudan Red”, the health bureaus of various counties and cities tried to trace the flow and conducted inspections one after another. The food safety issue of “Sudan Red” chili powder has been spreading for a month. Not only Big brands are being targeted, and more and more food items are being affected. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration stated on the 6th that “there is no guarantee that there are no unexploded bombs in the market,” triggering panic among people across Taiwan.

The cooking methods vary from place to place. In the north, curry cubes are also prohibited.

The New Taipei City Education Bureau pointed out yesterday that due to recent reports that some domestic companies imported chili powder raw materials from mainland China and found to contain the illegal raw material “Sudan Red” and made chili powder and other seasoning products, the Education Bureau sent a letter to the city in February. Schools at all levels immediately stopped using products from relevant manufacturers and their downstream suppliers, and strictly controlled to prevent problematic food materials from flowing into the campus. Each school has reported that no problematic chili powder has been used. However, in order to protect the rights of New Taipei students to eat nutritious lunches, New Taipei has launched a food safety response mechanism. From now on, the use of chili powder, curry powder and other seasonings in school lunches will be suspended to ensure the safety of school lunches. .

The Education Bureau also said that school lunches are mainly non-spicy, so chili powder is rarely used, while curry powder is mostly used in curry rice. According to the information from the Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Sudanese red pigment is mainly used in chili powder. Some curry powder seasonings have also been found to use Sudanese red chili powder. To ensure the safety of lunches, their use has been suspended.

Curry cubes have not yet been found to be of any concern. In addition, curry cubes are rarely used by operators in making nutritious lunches, so they are not included in the suspended use items.

The Education Bureau and the school have listed this case as a key item in the group meal audit to fully ensure the safety of New Taipei school lunches. The suspension of use will be implemented for 3 months before being evaluated whether to lift it.

Spices such as chili powder and curry powder have been banned in school meals in 16 counties and cities, but the methods are slightly different. Taoyuan City, Keelung City and New Taipei City are banned for 3 months simultaneously; Taipei City is banned until March 31, and contains banned curry cubes; Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, Taichung City, Changhua County, Nantou County, Yunlin County, Chiayi City , Yilan County, Taitung County, Kinmen County and Lianjiang County have all banned it since the 7th. Once the food safety concerns are confirmed to be resolved, it will be re-evaluated and resumed. Yilan County has also banned curry cubes. Hualien County did not follow up, and the Education Department stated that it would first handle the matter in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Education.

Tainan City, Kaohsiung City, Chiayi County, Pingtung County and Penghu County, which are governed by the Democratic Progressive Party, all stated in unison that spices such as chili powder and curry powder should not be used in nutritious school lunches, citing “no problem seasonings flowing into schools”.

Local governments are busy protecting themselves, while the Ministry of Education is concerned about

The Ministry of Education did not respond to the actions of local governments. The Food and Drug Administration only stated that it will continue to supervise local government health bureaus to inspect businesses to remove substandard products from the shelves. If the market sampling results do not meet the regulations, they will be in violation of the Food Safety Law and should be confiscated and destroyed. As of the 5th, 15 batches of problematic chili powder and its products, totaling 122,588.4 kilograms, had been removed from shelves and sealed.

See more related news
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Curry powder and chili powder are banned from nutritious lunches in 16 counties and cities
The city government fined Haishun RMB 120,000 for failing to report Sudan red despite knowing that the product was detected.
What is Sudan Red? What is the list of affected foods? What should I do if I eat it?Sudan Red Food Safety Storm Watch at once

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