Two Quanlian radish stores in Changhua and Tainan found pesticide residues exceeding the standard. 78 fruits and vegetables were randomly inspected across Taiwan for violations.

The Food and Drug Administration today announced the monitoring results of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables sold on the market from July to August this year. A total of 989 items were sampled and 78 items were found to be unqualified. Among them, the radish sampled by Quanlian Changhua Erlin Branch found that the residue of the pesticide canidine reached 27 times the allowable amount, which is still being handled by the local health bureau.

This monitoring is divided into random sampling and high-risk precision sampling. 456 items were randomly inspected, and 444 were qualified, with a pass rate of 97.4%. In addition, 533 items were randomly inspected for high-risk items, 467 were qualified, and 66 were unqualified. The Food and Drug Administration emphasized that high-risk sampling targets items that are more likely to violate regulations, and the results cannot directly represent the overall violation rate of fruits and vegetables on the market.

According to information released by the Food and Drug Administration, radishes from Quanlian's Changhua Erlin branch contained 0.54 ppm of clonidine, which is 0.02 ppm, which is 27 times the standard; radishes from Quanlian's Tainan Anfu branch had 0.30 ppm of clonidin, which was 15 times the permitted amount. Both cases are listed as cases under investigation by the local health bureau.

Other access roads and catering establishments also have unqualified agricultural products. The white radish purchased from the Xiaogang Minyi Branch of Sanshangshang was found to contain 0.34ppm of conidin, which is 17 times the allowable amount; the coriander from the Chiba Hot Pot Zhongli store was found to contain Pubu Ke, which did not comply with the usage regulations; the Aiwen mango from the LOPIA Dream Mall Kaohsiung store was found to have 0.26ppm of methotrexate, which is 0.12ppm higher than the allowable amount.

In addition, peas from an unmarketed vegetable stall at the Hulin Street morning market in Taipei City had a total of 7 pesticide residues that did not meet the regulations. Among them, 2.4ppm of Pubak was detected, which was 24 times the allowable amount of 0.1ppm, and Yapaizhan, which was not allowed to be detected, was detected. The New Taipei City Government has fined the supplier NT$30,000 in accordance with food safety laws.

According to statistics from the Food and Drug Administration, of the 78 cases of unqualified agricultural products, 42 cases were transferred to agricultural administration units, 18 cases were fined a total of 510,000 yuan in accordance with food safety laws, and the other 18 cases were handled by local health bureaus. Sampling locations include traditional markets, supermarkets, mass merchandisers and catering establishments.

Wei Renting, director of the Southern District Management Center of the Food and Drug Administration, called on the public to look for organic, production and sales record, CAS and other labels when purchasing seasonal fruits and vegetables, or purchase from reputable merchants. When cleaning vegetables, soak them in running water and then rinse them before cutting them; fruits should be rinsed before peeling and eating. Schools, catering and group catering operators should give priority to purchasing ingredients that are labeled or independently tested for pesticide residues, keep inspection reports and purchase records, and check suppliers regularly.