More tea sold by tea chain store found tainted with pesticide
2015/04/21 22:27:51
Taipei, April 21 (CNA) 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, health authorities said Tuesday.
The Tainan Department of Health said the Earl Grey, Ceylon and Darjeeling teas used by England Stornaway International Co. (英國藍), which runs 96 tea-dominated 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 England 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 Co. (洲界貿易) in late March.
England 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 England 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 (王明理) said.
England 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 Co. (原宜貿易).
(By Chang Jung-hsiang, Ku Chuan and Elizabeth Hsu)
