Taipei, June 15 (CNA) An investigation into 29 university campus restaurants in Taiwan found 21 to be in violation of food safety regulations, with breaches ranging from bacterial contamination to expired food products, according to the Executive Yuan's Department of Consumer Protection (DCP).
Consumers should be careful when purchasing ultraviolet (UV) sterilization lamps, after an inspection found that many such devices sold in Taiwan produce dangerous levels of radiation, officials said yesterday.
Inspected devices produced “dangerous levels of photochemical radiation” that could lead to skin cancer after prolonged exposure, the Executive Yuan’s Department of Consumer Protection told a news conference in Taipei.
UV lamps have gained popularity in the past few years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there have been reports of them leading to keratitis, skin swelling and photophobia in young children when used in daycare centers, the department said.
The reactions
Adding chlorine dioxide to humidifiers or diffusers can harm the health of those who breathe in the contaminated air, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said on Tuesday, adding that it has notified vendors to add a warning label about proper usage.
The warning comes after an incident at a school, which had added chlorine dioxide tablets to a diffuser, thinking it could disinfect classrooms.
A student developed pneumonia twice in three months as a result, sparking a public outcry and debate over environmental disinfectants.
There are five approved disinfectant products with chlorine dioxide on the market, all of which are meant to be
Half of the electric blankets sold by online retailers in Taiwan failed inspections and could present a safety risk, the Executive Yuan’s Consumer Protection Committee said yesterday.
The increased popularity of electric blankets due to recent cold weather prompted the inspection, the committee said, adding that people should be cautious when buying such products from Chinese manufacturers.
One of the 10 products tested had not been put through safety certification testing, and the distributor was asked to correct the issue, committee director-general Liu Chin-fang (劉清芳) said.
“Electric blankets come into contact with the body, so they absolutely must pass safety testing
Seventeen out of 20 sunglasses examined by the Consumer Protection Committee in a random inspection failed to meet standards, the committee told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
The government’s Chinese National Standards (CNS) 15067 stipulate that sunglasses are ranked 0 to 4, with a lower rank meaning more light can pass through the lenses, the committee said.
Committee officer Wang Te-ming (王德明) said that level 0 lenses should have 80 percent or more light filtration, should be almost completely transparent and should be usable at night or in poor light.
Level 4 lenses allow less than 10 percent of light to pass,