Contaminated Imported Cucumber Salad: Illegal Sweetener Additives Detected

On July 30, 2024, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a public notice that attracted widespread attention, revealing a batch of substandard food products that had recently been discovered during border inspections. This batch of cold cucumber shredded from South Korea has been found to contain excessive amounts of illegal sweetener saccharin, posing a potential threat to food safety. In the production of this batch of products south Korean manufacturers for BANCHANDANJI. CO., LTD, and Taiwan importer is hanwha international CO., LTD., the two companies in the incident must bear corresponding responsibility.

According to the inspection report of the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration, the saccharin content in the cucumber was as high as 0.56 g/kg, far exceeding the range and limit of food additives prescribed by the Taiwan Food Safety and Health Administration Law. Saccharin is an artificial sweeteners, although has strong sweet taste, but long-term or excessive intake may cause adverse effects on human health, such as the influence function of intestines and stomach, and may even increase the risk of some cancers. As a result, its use in food tightly controlled.

Taiwan food drug administration took decisive measures to this, ordered this batch of 100 kg of the return or destroy all unqualified food, to prevent the flow into the market, protect the health of consumers. At the same time, it also is a wake-up call for the domestic food import enterprises. Food Partner Network calls on enterprises to strengthen the quality control of imported food, pay close attention to the relevant food safety information, ensure that the imported products meet the national food safety standards, and jointly maintain the domestic food safety environment.

The incident once again highlights the importance of food safety supervision. In the globalized food supply chain, negligence in any link may lead to the emergence of problematic food. Therefore, the national food safety regulators need to continue to strengthen the border inspection, strictly control the use of food additives, at the same time, food enterprises should also improve self requirements, guarantee the safety of food from the source.

This action by the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration not only effectively stopped the circulation of the problem food, but also provided a reference for global food safety management. Only through strict supervision and enterprise self-discipline, to ensure that consumers can set his mind at to enjoy every bite of food.