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FOOD SCARE:
Plasticizer found in health supplement
ALPHABET SOUP: DBP, the latest industrial
chemical found in contaminated products, joins a growing list of chemicals used
in plastics that have been illegally added to foods
By Shelley Huang / Staff Reporter
A notice for a tea product is
posted yesterday at a 99 Ranch Market store, the largest Chinese supermarket
chain in California, assuring customers about the safety of the item amid the
food scare in Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
Health authorities have begun
investigating whether a third manufacturer may be guilty of using illegal food
additives after di-n--butyl phthalate, or DBP, was found in a health supplement
under the brand name Zoeyen, which is distributed by CPC Biotechnology (中油生技), a
subsidiary of the state-run petroleum refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油).
The manufacturer, Vitalife BioMed Co (優活醫藥生技有限公司), which is based in Taipei,
tested the product and immediately informed Taipei City’s Bureau of Health that
it was contaminated, officials said on Tuesday.
In the past two weeks, health authorities and prosecutors have tracked down two
companies — Yu Shen Chemical Co (昱伸香料有限公司) and Pin Han Perfumery Co (賓漢香料公司) —
who allegedly used di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP, and di-isononyl
phthalate, or DINP, respectively, in food additives that are supplied to food
and beverage manufacturers.
This was the first discovery in consumable products of the chemical DBP, which
is an industrial-use plasticizer that should not be added to foods.
The Department of Health said that while DBP has not been proven to be a
cancer--causing agent, exposure to the chemical above legal limits could cause
feminization in boys and premature development of sexual organs in girls.
Hsu Ming-neng (許銘能), deputy director-general of the department’s Food and Drug
Administration, said yesterday that after the discovery, health authorities
suspected that a third company producing food additives laced with industrial
chemicals has yet to be found.
Health officials said that initial investigations point to possible
contamination of jujube powder, which is an ingredient used in the Zoeyen
capsules.
Health authorities are tracking down which of CPC’s suppliers, whether domestic
or foreign, produced the problematic material that went into the Zoeyen
capsules. The capsules tested positive for DBP at 19 to 24 parts per million,
Hsu said.
As of May 31, the department has required that companies producing five
categories of consumable products — sports drinks, juices, tea drinks, fruit
jams or syrups, and tablets or powders — provide proof that their products are
free of DEHP, DINP, DBP, di-n-octyl phthalate (DNOP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP)
and butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP).
Companies that fail to produce certification will have their products removed
from the market or face fines of up to NT$300,000 for violating the Act
Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法).
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