The protein powder is the fourth food item imported from China that has been banned in Taiwan since a food scare broke out in Sept. following the discovery that milk powder, creamers and ammonium bicarbonate from China had been contaminated with melamine.

“To protect consumers’ safety and rights, all imports of the China-made protein powder will be banned from today,” said DOH Deputy Minister Cheng Shou-hsia at a press conference.

According to Cheng, the tainted protein powder was found during random examinations conducted by local health bureaus in the past few days. Six of the 13 samples selected tested positive for the toxic chemical at levels of 1.9 to 5.03 ppm (part per million), he disclosed.

The DOH has instructed the importers to recall product and has directed local health bureaus to seize all of it, he said.

Of the 704 tons of protein powder imported this year, 393 tons were from China, 261 tons of which was imported by four local companies and found to be contaminated with melamine, Cheng said.

The four enterprises imported the tainted ingredient from two companies, Dalian Greensnow Egg Products Development Co., Ltd. and Jilin Jinyi Egg Co., Ltd., located in Jilin and Liaoning provinces in northeastern China, according to Cheng.

To ensure food safety, all China-made protein powder, even if it tests negative for melamine, will be recalled, he stressed.

Protein powder is a food additive used in the production of ham, vegetarian ham, tempura and cakes, Cheng said, adding that it constitutes about one percent of the content of such foods.

He further indicated that the Bureau of Food and Drug Analysis under the DOH has tested 40 samples of those food products, and the melamine tests were all negative.

Melamine has been found in imports of dairy products, creamers and vegetable-based proteins from China in the past weeks.

Under the DOH’s current regulations, foods testing positive for melamine with the use of the LC-MS/MStechnique (liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry) are not allowed on the market.

Melamine, an industrial material, was added by Chinese food producers to diluted milk to falsely elevate protein levels.

The practice has led to four deaths and sickened tens of thousands of children in China who were fed with baby formula made with contaminated milk.