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Food and Drug Administration
Section 1 Illegal Starch Manufacturing Contamination Incident
1. Causes of Incident
In 2013, unscrupulous food suppliers disregarded Taiwan citizens' health and national
reputation by illegally producing food starch chemically modified by maleic acid, a
substance banned as a food additive. It was widely used in many commonly consumed
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curd, starch jelly, taro cake/balls, sweet potato cake/balls, green bean vermicelli, sweet
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2
.
Timeline of Incident
Table 12-1 In 2013, Illegal starch manufacturing contamination incident timeline and
descriptions
Case stage
Description
Brewing period
1. Initiate Research and Discussions: On February 4
th
, it was rumored that
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the committee suspected suppliers were using unapproved maleic
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2. Establish Testing Techniques: On March 15
th
, the international collection
process of information was initiated to develop test methodology
Investigation period
March 18
th
(WYPS
th
: Commenced random testing of commercially available
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IHSSZ ÅH[ YPJL UVVKSLZ 6V SPHU HUK V[OLY YLSH[LK WYVK\J[Z ^P[O JHZLZ VM
maleic acid detection of 74 random samples tested
Trace and track period
1. Trace and track investigation: Since April 10
th
, the Bureaus of Health and
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product manufacturers and four starch manufacturers
2. Testing: During the investigation and trace and track periods, a total of 137
tests were performed
3. Press release was issued on May 13
th
Comprehensive
inspection period
May 14
th
to 26
th
! ( SHYNL ZJHSL SH^ LUMVYJLTLU[ HJ[PVU ^HZ SH\UJOLK [V
reinforce the inspections of starch factories, dealers, and additive
manufacturing plants
Launch
“
0527
Food Safety Case
Investigation
”
project
1.
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2.
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all producers from eight major product manufacturing categories
3. Supervise and counsel starch producers
4. Increase informer cash rewards
5. Accelerate food sanctions legislation
Chapter
︱
Major Events
︱
12