Taiwan begins to destroy contaminated food to contain crisis

Jun 11, 2011, 11:51 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan on Saturday began to destroy contaminated food in order to contain a snowballing toxic food crisis that has tarnished the island's image.

President Ma Ying-jeou was present at the burning of 12 tons of fruit juice powder, jam and flavouring agents in Changhwa, western Taiwan.

Wearing grey protective clothing and a helmet, Ma threw several cartons of the fruit juice powder into the incinerator.

'This is not the end of our battle, but is the start of our battle,' he said.

'We must find out the cause of the scandal and set up a sound system to ensure food safety and win back customers' trust,' Ma said.

Toxic food was also destroyed in other cities around the island.

In the southern port city of Kaohsiung, health workers began to destroy 89 tons of sports drinks that contained the carcinogenic industrial plasticizer diethylhexylphthalate (DEHP). It will take five days to destroy all the canned drinks.

DEHP, which serves as a clouding agent, is commonly used in fruit jelly, yogurt mix powder, juices and other drinks, as well as some nutritional supplements in Taiwan.

While low doses of DEHP are generally safe, high doses or prolonged exposure could retard the development of boys' growth, affect fertility and increase toxicity to kidneys.

Since the toxic food scandal erupted in late May, several countries, including China, Malaysia, the Philippines and the United States, have either issued warnings against Taiwan food or have pulled certain products off shelves.