Crisis management turns Taiwan's plasticizer nightmare into progressive policy

Abstract

The world’s largest emergency food safety effort began in April 2011, when a Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) scientist testing a probiotics product noticed irregular results. After weeks of intensive investigation, it was discovered that a widely used emulsifier known as clouding agent had been adulterated with a high concentration (113,402 ppm) of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), an industrial plasticizer whose use is prohibited in food due to toxicity and possible endocrine-disrupting effects. Investigators uncovered a profit motive for the contamination: DEHP was used by Yu-Shen Chemical Company, New Taipei City, Taiwan instead of palm oil to reduce the cost of production. One week later, the investigation also revealed another illegal use of plasticizers: the Pin Han Perfumery Company, New Taipei City, Taiwan had used di-isononyl phthalate (DINP) to adulterate its clouding agent. The disclosure that clouding agents with DEHP and DINP had been used in many foods and beverages caused great concern in Taiwan. The government met the crisis with a whirlwind program of inspections. Officials collected and