TAIPEI: A batch of whey protein imported from the United Kingdom was recently seized at Taiwan’s border due to banned preservatives, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.
This is the first time in two years that products from UK firm Myprotein tested positive for benzoic acid, the FDA said in its weekly release on substandard food products intercepted at the border, reported CNA.
According to the FDA, the shipments of the workout supplement “Myprotein-impact whey protein, natural chocolate” imported by Taoyuan-based TwinBrothers Co contained 0.1g of benzoic acid per kg.
A total of 1,380kg of chocolate-flavoured whey protein was returned or destroyed after testing, the FDA said.
In Taiwan, benzoic acid is used as a preservative in foods such as tomato sauce, juice and butter, but is banned from being used in whey protein products, said Chen Ching-yu, a division chief at the FDA’s Northern Centre for Regional Administration.
However, he said that none of the problematic whey protein has been sold to the domestic market.
Chen said the FDA would increase the sample testing rate for Myprotein products from 2-10% to 20-50% and has published a list of 11 other imported items that recently failed safety inspections that would either be returned to the country of origin or destroyed.
Among the products were four batches containing heavy metals, which are two shipments of scallops from different exporters from Japan, frozen taro chips from Vietnam and clove fish from Japan.
The other substandard products are coconut sugar from Indonesia, chicken essence seasoning from China, utensils from India and cassia seed tea bags from Korea, the FDA reported. – Bernama
