The Taipei City Special Task Force of the North District Affairs Team of the National Immigration Agency (移民署北區事務大隊臺北市專勤隊) and the Taipei City Department of Health (DOH, 臺北市衛生局) conducted a joint inspection on the 27th. At a Vietnamese grocery store near National Chengchi University (國立政治大學) in Wenshan District, a box of Vietnamese pork mooncakes weighing approximately 4.95 kg was found to be of unknown origin. The DOH was asked to inspect the mooncakes whether it contains the African swine fever virus and continued to find the source and trace where the mooncakes were distributed, to prevent the entry of African swine fever meat products into the market.
Mooncakes of unknown origin are seized from stores.
The person in charge of the grocery store, surnamed Lin, failed to explain the source and could not provide relevant proof of purchase. He said that the mooncakes were recommended to him by his fellow Vietnamese who work in a Vietnamese food store and was told that the mooncakes are fast selling. With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, Mr. Lin also purchased the mooncakes from fellow hometown friends and sold them in his store, but it was not clear whether the ingredients contained pork of unknown origin. To ensure safety, the Taipei City Task Force and the DOH still confiscated the mooncakes and sent them for inspection.
The Department of Health seized mooncakes on site.
Lin Tsai-jung (林財榮), the leader of the Taipei City Task Force, said that most neighboring countries are already affected by the African swine fever. Recently, many meat products in the country have been tested and found to have the African swine fever virus. People are reminded not to buy pork products of unknown origin or with unclear product labels. If imported pork products that did not pass the quarantine inspection are imported, violators can be sentenced to a fixed-term of up to 7 years imprisonment and a fine of up to NT$3 million according to the Animal Infectious Disease Control regulations. The public is advised not to violate the law. Everybody should work together to protect the food safety and health of the Taiwan people and the quality of Taiwanese pigs.
