Taiwan orders food products to carry safety certificates for export

Jun 3, 2011, 16:11 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan, coping with a snowballing food contamination crisis, on Friday ordered five categories of food products to carry safety certificates for export.

The Economics Ministry said that the five categories are sports drinks, fruit juice, tea drinks, jam/fruit pastes/fruit jelly and capsules/powder.

The ministry issued the instruction as the island was grappling with a food scandal caused by some manufacturers adding a cancer-causing plasticizer, diethylhexylphthalate (DEHP), in food and drinks.

DEHP, which serves as a cloudy agent, is commonly used in fruit jelly, yogurt mix powder, juices and other drinks, as well as some nutritive food items in Taiwan.

While low doses of DEHP are generally safe, high doses or prolonged exposure to DEHP could have harmful effects, such as retarding the development of boys' growth, fertility and toxicity to kidneys.

The food scare is so widespread that many Taiwanese no longer buy bread, coffee or yogurt from stores, preferring to make their own bread and yogurt, or simply eat rice and drink water.

The scandal has dealt a heavy blow to Taiwan, which used to have a reputation as a source of quality products.