New Taipei City inspects Yuhe Foods for storing suspicious U.S. beef

Chase, chase, chase, chase American beef with clenbuterol! Since the Taipei City Government Health Bureau randomly inspected meat products containing clenbuterol in major supermarkets on the 4th, it announced on the 13th that two non-compliant products were found, both of which originated from the supplier "Yu He Food Co., Ltd." located in Zhonghe. However, before that, the bureau had immediately sent personnel to the store to order the removal and recall of the illegal products after the inspection report came out on the 10th, and simultaneously requested the New Taipei City Government Health Bureau to destroy the recalled products and deal with them in accordance with the law.

The New Taipei City Health Bureau has sealed up meat products containing clenbuterol supplied by Yuhe Food. (Photo courtesy of New Taipei City Health Bureau)

Zhou Jianming, chief of the Food and Drug Administration Division of the New Taipei City Health Bureau, said that after receiving a notification from the Taipei City Health Bureau on the afternoon of the 10th, the authorities went to the supplier's registered address three times for inspection. During the inspection, they encountered a weekend employee holiday, which limited the progress of the inspection. It was not until this morning that a batch of "American Refrigerated Angus Beef Ribs" with a total weight of 35.24 kilograms of returned goods were sealed on the spot. In the future, they will continue to track and seal the returned goods that have not yet been recovered.

The New Taipei City Health Bureau stated that it is currently investigating the supplier and is also tracing the flow and quantity of the business's purchases and sales. Since clenbuterol was detected in the product, it has violated Article 11, Paragraph 1, Item 5 of the Food Sanitation Management Act. In accordance with Article 29, Paragraph 1 of the same act, the product should be confiscated and destroyed.

The Angostura beef ribs sold at RT-Mart do not comply with regulations on clenbuterol and have now been asked by health authorities to be removed from the shelves. (Photo courtesy of New Taipei City Health Bureau)

As for the RT-Mart and Carrefour stores that were previously found to be selling meat products that did not comply with regulations on clenbuterol, they were asked by relevant personnel from the Health Bureau on the 10th to remove all products from the shelves. The New Taipei City Health Bureau went to inspect again on the 11th and found no unqualified beef products.