TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The Ministry of Health and Welfare's (MOHW, 衛福部) Food and Drug Administration (FDA, 食藥署) announced on Tuesday (Feb. 4) that seven batches of KAMEDA (亀田製菓株式会社) baby rice crackers imported from Japan failed border inspections due to excessive cadmium levels. The FDA plans to return or destroy 398.02 kilograms of the product, intensifying inspections of related manufacturers at the border.
Acting FDA Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) highlighted that the non-compliant items included two batches each from Chasing Excellence Co. (追求卓越公司), Xiang Hong Yuan Trading Co. (向虹園貿易公司), and Chang Wei Industrial Co. (昶緯興業公司), along with one batch from Jing Qi Trading Co. (京奇貿易公司). Cadmium concentrations ranged from 0.042 to 0.049 mg per kilogram, surpassing the permitted limit of 0.040 mg per kilogram.
Lin stated that the FDA will conduct batch-by-batch inspections of products from KAMEDA at the border. From now until March 3, 2025, the agency will also implement enhanced sampling inspections of 20% to 50% for baby and toddler cookies imported from Japan.
FDA statistics revealed that from July 20, 2024, to Jan. 20, 2025, 329 batches of Japanese baby or toddler cookies were inspected. Nine batches were found non-compliant, resulting in a failure rate of 2.7%. All non-compliance cases were due to cadmium levels.