CFIA tracking Taiwan imports tainted with toxic chemical

[twitchyzero]

OTTAWA — Food and drink ingredients from Taiwan tainted with a toxic chemical may have found their way into Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency warned Sunday as a local food-safety scandal goes global.

Taiwanese authorities have already found hundreds of products containing the potentially cancer-causing plasticizer DEHP sold in Taiwan and on the Chinese mainland, including tea ingredients exported to Britain. And now food inspectors in Canada are working overtime to find out if tainted products or ingredients were also shipped to Canada. The investigation could lead to a flood of recalls here.

DEHP, one of six phthalates and part of a family of chemicals known to cause reproductive harm and considered a possible human carcinogen, is banned in children’s toys in Canada and elsewhere.

It is strictly prohibited to use the plasticizer in food and beverages, but Taiwan authorities suspect at least one unscrupulous food manufacturer added the banned industrial plasticizer to an emulsifier as a cheap substitute for the more expensive palm oil.

The resulting product, called cloudy agent, which stabilizes emulsions, is often found in fruit jelly, yogurt mix powder, juices, sports drinks and other beverages.

The revelation is dominating news headlines in Taiwan and comes a few years after China’s food scandal involving melamine-tainted dairy products.

So far, CFIA has identified certain flavours of the juice brands Possmei and Trojan as possibly contaminated with the chemical, declared toxic over a decade ago under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

The Kuo Hua Trading Company Ltd. distributed the juice products to retail, hotel and institutional establishments in British Columbia and Ontario, the agency says.

Currently, the agency considers these items as part of Class 3 recall — meaning the products are not considered a safety risk but the juices don’t comply with Canada’s food regulations.

This initial Canadian recall comes after Taiwan authorities ordered last week a massive recall of six categories of high-risk beverage and food products suspected of being tainted with DEHP, or di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate.

They include fruit juices, sports drinks, teas, fruit jams and preserves, food powders, and food or food supplement tablets.

This was on the headlines in Taiwan the last couple of days. I didn't think there would be tainted shit from Taiwanese import

This DEHP chemical could possibly be served in drinks of local bubble tea businesses
http://www.vancouversun.com/Canadian...083/story.html

[Tim Budong]

this is infact true
culd be in the BBT powder

http://ax3battery.com/2011/05/25/can...iwanese-drink/

[twitchyzero]

i bought a dozen six-packs of Uni-President milk tea on sale last month...and I already finished half of that stock Although no official recall for this brand yet
this news is as shameful as the melamine in chinese milk products

[Qmx323]

UH OH

Kuo Hua in richmond is in for a potential shit storm since all they sell is TW products

[Tim Budong]

Originally Posted by Qmx323

UH OH

Kuo Hua in richmond is in for a potential shit storm since all they sell is TW products

that is true!!!

[twitchyzero]

yeah kuo hua was mentioned in the article..i shop there from time to time too

[woob]

Haha a family friend called up yesterday and told us to throw the BBT powder that they gave us. Now I know why.

[SkinnyPupp]

I wish there was a list of brands that have this problem, so people can know who to avoid

[sonick]

DEHP, one of six phthalates and part of a family of chemicals known to cause reproductive harm and considered a possible human carcinogen, is banned in children’s toys in Canada and elsewhere.

Maybe this is why all the hongers at BBT look like girls.

[Chronix]

shit im drinking bbt right now as im reading this

[xilley]

apparently its just the concentrated ones
not so much milk tea etc.
called up guo hua to refund the bucket of concentrated plum and passion fruit shit, they said its not the same brand, but i saw the news in Taiwan CLEARLY shows the SAME FUCKING BRAND
bitches.
and i went today, they dont even sell it no more. buncha scams

[asian_XL]

you should know milk tea is not actually fresh milk + tea bag.

earlier reports said the sugar in those coffeemate powder cause cancer as well.

[K-Dub]

This affects a lot of products, and let's be real here. You've probably ingested some of this stuff if you've been to any bbt place, or even any Asian restaurant (Chinese, HK Cafe, Taiwanese restaurants, whatever). Some reports say that this goes back as far as 5 years ago. We all have trace amounts of toxins in our bodies, let's just hope that this stuff doesn't build up.

[xilley]

just stop drinking it, already tossed out all of it
for fuck sakes, milk tea is so easy to make
do it yourself.

[Alphamale]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

I wish there was a list of brands that have this problem, so people can know who to avoid

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/.../phthale.shtml

And...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bis%282...ving_organisms

DEHP metabolites...have been significantly associated with the decreased penis width, shorter anogenital distance, and the incomplete descent of testes of their newborn sons...

[t8v6]

lol so many things are causing cancer nowadays, i'm not even keeping track anymore.

[FerrariEnzo]

its a good think i dont drink BBT..

i rarely drink imported drinks also.. the only place i eat out are Tims and McD's.. man i might die from all the grease from McD's... nevermind this DEHP thing.. haha

Did health Canada put out a mandatory memo for all places serving BBT to stop?

[optiblue]

wow, good thing I never really liked bbt and didn't drink it on a regular basis! Coca Cola FTW!

[svelt]

Originally Posted by FerrariEnzo

its a good think i dont drink BBT..

i rarely drink imported drinks also.. the only place i eat out are Tims and McD's.. man i might die from all the grease from McD's... nevermind this DEHP thing.. haha

Did health Canada put out a mandatory memo for all places serving BBT to stop?

See: http://www.carexcanada.ca/en/phthalates/

The Canadian government has announced that DEHP concentrations in all soft vinyl children’s toys and child care articles will be limited to 1,000 mg/kg (0.1%) when the Consumer Product Safety Act becomes effective in June 2011.

Nothing about DEHP in food products. This is actually a plasticizer used in PVC piping and they're concerned about occupational exposure.

Looks like Health Canada doesn't think it was that much of a risk factor prior to this whole fiasco... hopefully they change their stance on it or sic the CFIA on this..

[falcon]

Looks like I have nothing to worry about since I don't drink any of this shit to begin with...

[FerrariEnzo]

Originally Posted by svelt

Looks like Health Canada doesn't think it was that much of a risk factor prior to this whole fiasco... hopefully they change their stance on it or sic the CFIA on this..

that would be sad, something of this caliber that can cause cancer is still being sold...