Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it is conducting checks on imported oil from Vietnam as it might contain Agent Orange with traces of dioxin. That’s the word from the FDA interim head Chiang Yu-mei on Tuesday.
Agent Orange is an herbicide or defoliant used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. Dioxin is a highly toxic chemical compound. The oil in question was imported by the Ting Hsin International Group from Vietnam.
Chiang said the FDA received a sample from the Taipei District Prosecutors Office in mid-October, but it will take at least two weeks to get the results. To ease public anxiety, Chiang said the FDA has sped up its checks on the sample.
Because dioxin is fat-soluble, the government has started checks on eggs, meat, dairy products, and oils and fats since 2004.
There have been mounting calls for tightening controls on imports from Vietnam, but the FDA said no countries have imposed such a ban.