770,000 tons of Australian wheat barred due to pesticide residues

Some 770,000 tons of wheat shipped from Australia have been barred from entering Taiwan after pesticide residues were discovered in the shipments, the Department of Health (DOH) reported yesterday.

A concentration of 0.47 ppm of Fenitrothion was detected in random checks of a first shipment of 550,860 kilograms of wheat originating from Australia that a local food importer tried to clear through customs on Dec. 8, 2009, said Tsai Shu-chen, a division chief with the DOH National Laboratories of Foods and Drugs.

A concentration of 0.43 ppm of Fenitrothion was detected the same day in a second shipment of 226,100 tons of wheat that the same company imported from Australia, Tsai said.

No Fenitrothion is allowed in any foodstuffs for people or feed for animals according to DOH regulations.

Fenitrothion is a man-made chemical that is used as an insecticide. It is used on a wide range of crops in the world. It can be toxic to a wide range of wildlife. Excessive exposure to Fenitrothion may affect the brain, peripheral nerves and skin.

The company requested that the wheat shipments be re-examined, but the results were the same. A request for a third test was rejected by the DOH.
Samples from a third shipment of 273,075 tons of Australian wheat brought in by the importer in late December were also found to have a concentration of 0.42 ppm of Fenitrothion.

The same importer has also asked that other samples from the shipment be tested to double-check the results.

According to Chang Kuo-jung, the vice chairman of the Taipei Bakery Association, some local bakeries began to import Australian wheat as prices for flour from the United States have continued to soar in recent months.

"The association will probe the impact of the import bar on local bakeries operations,” Chang said.