Toxic Hsinchu Specialties Found in Other Counties; Councilor Blasts City Hall for '7-Week Delay'

Hsinchu city officials are facing criticism for a slow response to food safety concerns, with toxic products being consumed by residents before effective recalls could be implemented.

“

It is another county that tested Hsinchu's specialty products for toxins. City Councilor Liao Tzu-chi criticizes the city government for only recalling 20%, meaning the toxic rice noodles were already eaten.

New Taipei City councilor Liao Tzu-chi pointed out that a popular Hsinchu rice noodle product, "Nonggeng Pai" (農耕牌), was found to contain formaldehyde. This discovery was made by Tainan city officials in late May, who then notified the Hsinchu City Health Bureau. However, the public announcement and recall efforts were delayed by nearly seven weeks, until July 18.

This is not the first time Hsinchu's signature products have faced scrutiny. Last year, a well-known peanut butter brand from Hsinchu was found to contain aflatoxin. In that instance, the contamination was first detected by health authorities in Taipei and Taoyuan, who then informed Hsinchu.

“

Rice noodles and peanut butter are two important representative specialty products of Hsinchu, but the 'poison' in food products was always discovered by other cities first. Hsinchu City Health Bureau's speed in sampling and recalling is half a beat slow.

Councilor Liao expressed concern that the delayed response means many contaminated products have already been consumed. Of the 4,740 packages of the formaldehyde-tainted rice noodles produced, only 867 have been recovered, resulting in a recall rate of less than 20%. This suggests that over 80% of the problematic products have entered the market or been eaten by consumers.

“

The city government's information disclosure was delayed by 7 weeks, and it was not announced in the food safety zone. What is even more questionable is that the health bureau's inspection 'did not find illegal additives', but testing 6 different batches all found formaldehyde.

Further questioning the health bureau's investigation, Liao noted that while officials claimed they "did not find illegal additives" during inspections, laboratory tests on six different batches of the rice noodles all detected formaldehyde. The source of the contamination, whether from raw materials, the production environment, or equipment, remains unclear, leaving residents uncertain about the safety of local specialties. Liao is demanding a thorough investigation and clear explanations for the public.

“

Where did the formaldehyde come from? Raw materials, production process environment, or equipment? The source of pollution has not been clarified. What needs to be changed by the 'deadline for improvement'? The Health Bureau should explain clearly to the citizens.