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DPH finds no recalled products from Taiwan on NMI’s shelves
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Posted on Jun 21 2011
After weeks of looking for recalled products from Taiwan, the Bureau of Environmental Health declared the Commonwealth yesterday to be free of beverages laced with a chemical that is harmful to reproductive organs.
Early this month, the CNMI joined the global recall of food products made in Taiwan after it received an emergency alert from the International Food Safety Authorities Network about soft drinks and sports drinks that have been contaminated with 2-ethyl hexyl.
John Tagabuel, deputy secretary for public health, told Saipan Tribune yesterday that bureau inspectors have found none of the recalled items on Commonwealth shelves.
“BEH inspectors from Rota, Tinian, and Saipan have visited licensed wholesalers and retailers and have confirmed to date that the recalled product have not been imported to the CNMI,” he said.
The recalled items were found to contain high levels of the chemical 2-ethyl hexyl, a chemical used in the manufacture of plastic products. Products potentially containing high levels of this chemical had been distributed to Vietnam, the Philippines, and several regions of China.
The recalls involved 290 Taiwanese companies that purchased tainted ingredients from at least two manufacturers that substituted a chemical called di-ethyl hexyl phthalate for palm oil as a “clouding agent” in their products. Phthalates have been linked to cancer and reproductive damage and are especially dangerous to children and fetuses.
