Taipei: A well-known Taiwanese brand of peanut butter has been found to contain excessive amounts of aflatoxins, according to the results of mycotoxin tests on commercial food products released by Taipei’s Department of Health on Monday. A sample of Hsinchu Fu Yuan peanut butter, one of 30 peanut food products randomly tested for mycotoxins, contained high amounts of aflatoxins. These are poisonous carcinogens and mutagens produced by certain molds, the department stated.

According to Focus Taiwan, the tests on the 30 products were conducted in late April and early May. The department found that the peanut butter contained 4.3 micrograms per kilogram (ug/kg) of aflatoxin B1, exceeding the 2 ug/kg standard, and had 5.0 ug/kg of combined B1, B2, G1, G2 aflatoxins, exceeding the maximum permissible level of 4 ug/kg. Two peanut powders also failed the inspection, the department said.

Fu Yuan apologized for the contaminated product in a statement Monday, explaining that it believed the problem stemmed from its peanut supplier. The company voluntarily recalled the flagged product and pledged to cooperate with all investigations and inspections, as well as strengthen its quality control to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Meanwhile in Taoyuan, one of Fu Yuan’s partner distributors also failed an inspection by the city’s Department of Public Health. According to the Taoyuan department on Monday, it initiated an aflatoxins test on Fu Yuan’s peanut butter sold by Taoyuan’s Wang Lii Co. after being informed by its Taipei counterpart.

Taipei notified Taoyuan in late May that Hsinchu Fu Yuan peanut butter sold at Carrefour with an expiration date of July 5 had tested positive for excessive aflatoxins. While Taoyuan attempted to test a sample with a July 5 expiry date sold by Wang Lii, the company no longer had any product with that expiration date available.

A test was then conducted on another Fu Yuan peanut butter batch Wang Lii had in its stock with an Aug. 27 expiration date, and a sample from that batch also tested positive for excessive aflatoxin levels. Taoyuan’s health department said it issued a correction order to Wang Lii as the aflatoxin results indicated a violation of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation.

Failure to make improvements, the department said, could lead to a NT$30,000 (US$1,013) to NT$3 million fine for the company. The Taoyuan department reported that after all flagged peanut butters were returned to Fu Yuan, another inspection of Wang Lii conducted on July 8 found that its peanut butter met the required standards.

It remains unclear why Taipei did not publicize the test results obtained in May prior to Monday or how much of the contaminated peanut butter was sold to customers.