New Taipei City: 4 meatballs sampled and found to contain chloramphenicol

The New Taipei City Government's Health Bureau randomly sampled 10 meatballs from vendors, stores, convenience stores, and catering businesses within its jurisdiction and found that four of them contained chloramphenicol. Among them, "Carrefour," "Yongji Cold Noodles," and "Grandma's Ancient Flavor" were all on the list. Upon investigation, it was found that the sources of the goods were all businesses from other counties and cities, and the case has been referred to the relevant health bureau for investigation.

The New Taipei City Government's Health Bureau randomly tested 10 meatballs from vendors, stores, convenience stores, and catering businesses within its jurisdiction and found that 4 of them contained chloramphenicol. (Photo courtesy of New Taipei City Health Bureau)

Lin Guanzhen, chief of the Food and Drug Administration Department of the Health Bureau, said that the meatball inspection items this time included five major categories: clenbuterol, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, multiple residue analysis of animal drugs, and multiple residue analysis of antiprotozoal agents. The inspection results showed that chloramphenicol was detected in four items. According to the "Animal Drug Residue Standards", the residues of chloramphenicol in poultry and livestock products are "not allowed to be detected."

The unqualified products include "Hsinchu Specialty Meatballs" and "Genuine Hsinchu Meatballs", both of which were found to contain 0.4ppb of chloramphenicol. The Health Bureau immediately asked the business to remove the products from the shelves and recall them, and sealed 15 and 54 packages respectively. In addition, "Fuk Kee Kang Pills" and "Fu Mao Kang Pills" sampled from vendors in Xinzhuang District were found to contain 2.6ppb and 0.6ppb of chloramphenicol respectively. The Health Bureau went to inspect again, but the business had already sold out.

The Department of Health followed the trail and found that the upstream manufacturers of "Hsinchu Specialty Meatballs" and "Zheng Hsinchu Meatballs" products are from Yunlin County; the upstream manufacturers of "Fuk Kee Kang Balls" products are from Hsinchu City; and the upstream manufacturers of "Fu Mao Kang Balls" products are from Changhua County. They have violated Article 11 of the Food Sanitation Management Act and may be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$6 million.

Section Chief Lin Guanzhen emphasized that normal cooking cannot completely destroy chloramphenicol. If too much chloramphenicol accumulates in the human body, it may lead to aplastic anemia, red blood cell hypoplasia, and even heart failure. The side effects are related to the sensitivity of the human body rather than the dosage, and it is now banned in most countries.

It should be noted that the dosage of chloramphenicol consumed is related to the sensitivity of one's physical constitution. It does not mean that a small dosage will not cause harm. It will cause serious harm to people with special physical constitutions, causing diseases such as blood cancer. If infected again, it may cause fatal risks such as heart failure or sepsis. People must not underestimate this.