Want China Times, CNA 2015-04-22
More tea purchased by the Tainan-based tea store chain caught last week selling herbal tea containing pesticide residue has been found to be tainted, local health authorities said Tuesday.
A Stornaway outlet in Taipei, April 18. (Photo/Chao Shuang-chieh) |
More tea purchased by the Tainan-based tea store chain caught last week selling herbal tea containing pesticide residue has been found to be tainted, local health authorities said Tuesday.
The Tainan
Department of Health said the Earl Grey, Ceylon and Darjeeling teas used by
English Stornaway International, which runs 96 tea beverage chain stores around
Taiwan, were all found to contain traces of pesticide.
The
discovery was based on the results of laboratory tests on tea samples the
company submitted voluntarily for examination, the department said, adding that
it was informed of the matter by Stornaway via a faxed message.
In the
message, the chain store operator also said that all the tea products were
bought from Taipei-based herb importer Chou Jae Trading in late March.
English
Stornaway said it has already taken the problematic teas — 330 kg of Earl Grey,
150 kg of Ceylon and 240 kg of Darjeeling — off its shelves.
Meanwhile,
the Tainan District Prosecutors Office said it has begun an investigation into
suspected violations of food safety regulations involving English Stornaway.
Earl Grey,
Ceylon and Darjeeling are the major beverages sold at the chain stores, which
have been ordered to close pending the investigation.
After
receiving the report from Tainan, the Taipei City Department of Health said it
raided the Taipei office of Chou Jae along with prosecutors and investigators,
seizing a total of 600 kg of the three kinds of tea.
According
to available data, the problem teas were all produced in Sri Lanka, Taipei
health official Wang Ming-li said.
English
Stornaway sparked tea safety concerns around the country after a rose tea drink
sold at one of its chain stores was found to contain traces of DDT, an
insecticide long-banned because of the damage it causes to the environment.
The Food
and Drug Administration found last Wednesday that the chain's rose tea was
bought from Chou Jae, which in turn sourced the tea from Kaohsiung-based Yuen
Yeeh Enterprise.
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