Page 38 - 2020Taiwan Food and Drug Administration Annual Report

(III) In line with the ban of using the pesticide Paraquat and the use of veterinary drug
Fluralaner to establish a test method
TFDA utilizes the liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) with
ultrasonic extraction technology for the development of pesticide Paraquat and utilizes
the LC-MS/MS with QuEChERS extraction technology for the development of veterinary
drug Fluralaner test method, to ensure the food safety for consumers.
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In 2019, a local coffee chain was found to be mixing relatively lower price Robusta

coffee beans in to the products declared 100%
Arabica. Since 16-O-methylcafestol (16-OMC) is
a remarkable indicator to distinguish Robusta from
Arabica. TFDA quickly developed a method for
16-OMC quantification using a 500 MHz nuclear
magnetic resonance (NMR) (Figure 2-5) within 1
week and applied it for case testing. As a result, the

local coffee chain was detected the existing of 16-
OMC on its products and the behavior of adding
Robusta into 100% Arabica coffee products was
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capabilities of the national laboratory to develop
the analysis method for coffee adulteration with
the advanced inspection technology, so that the
prosecutors could have the concrete evidence to
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process relevant legal actions. NBHOFUJD SFTPOBODF
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bankorensis) with molecular biotechnology
TFDA received a report from the Hualien County Health Bureau that some people had
symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, dysphagia, dyspnea and paralysis after
eating the frog soup and one of them was not breathing and had stopped heartbeat before arriving
at the hospital; one case of the remaining food (frog soup) was sent for food inspection. With
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the results indicated that the people had eaten the poisonous toad (Bufo bankorensis). TFDA
immediately reported the inspection results and issued a weekly journal on drug and food safety,
to remind the public not to catch and eat unknown frogs to prevent getting poisoned, to achieve

the goal of safeguarding the public’s food safety.

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