Chemical used in plastics found in Taiwan-made food
June 2nd, 2011 - 12:56 pm ICT by IANSBeijing, June 2 (IANS) A chemical used to make plastic soft and flexible, that can also affect hormone balance in the human body, has been detected in a number of food products made in Taiwan, China’s food quality watchdog has said.
Sports drinks, juices, tea, fruit jams or syrups and food additives produced by 10 Taiwan-based companies would be banned from entering the China, said the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
DEHP or Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate - a cost-effective chemical used mainly for making PVC soft and pliable - was found in many items.
The quality watchdog has issued a temporary ban on such food, the China Daily reported.
Sang Liwei, a lawyer specialising in food safety, said the toxicity of DEHP was about 30 times that of melamine, and this scandal was no less formidable than the melamine-tainted dairy products scandal that was detected in China in 2008.
Taiwan’s health authorities have also announced that DEHP was found in some bottled beverages and dairy products, and have ordered 168 food processing companies to recall over one million tainted items.
- Taiwan destroys two tonnes of chemical-tainted drinks - Jun 12, 2011
- China arrests 96 people for using tainted milk powder - Jan 14, 2011
- Melamine-tainted dairy product reappears in China - Nov 24, 2010
- 96 arrested in China for selling adulterated milk powder - Jan 13, 2011
- Chemicals used in plastics 'feminise' brains of baby boys - Nov 16, 2009
- Chinese police arrests six suspects, 41 others in melamine milk scandal - Aug 21, 2010
- Six arrested in fresh melamine milk scandal in China - Aug 21, 2010
- China bans more milk products tainted with melamine - Jan 25, 2010
- Police seize 64 tons of melamine tainted milk from northwest China plant - Jul 09, 2010
- China probes preserved fruit additives - Apr 26, 2012
- China jails 14 people in tainted milk case - Apr 30, 2011
- China recalls over 170 tons of contaminated milk powder in latest crackdown - Feb 08, 2010
- China restricts food imports from Japan - Mar 26, 2011
- Melamine tainted milk resurfaces in China - Jul 09, 2010
- 248 Chinese officials arrested over food safety flaws in 2010 - Jan 31, 2011
Tags: bottled beverages, china daily, dairy products, dehp, ethylhexyl, food additives, food processing companies, food products, food quality, fruit jams, general administration, health authorities, hormone balance, phthalate, products made in taiwan, quality supervision, quarantine, sports drinks, syrups, taiwan china