Taiwan's FDA revokes decision to allow fungicide fluopyram in tea

Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday revoked its decision to tolerate fluopyram in tea, after its previous decision to permit residue of the fungicide stirred controversy.

In line with the Council of Agriculture (COA) policy of allowing the use of a pesticide that is a mixture of fluopyram and trifloxystrobin on tea bushes, the FDA on March 15 announced that up to 6 ppm of fluopyram residue would be permitted.

The announcement immediately triggered an outcry, because fluopyram has been linked to thyroid and liver cancer in mice.

According to Pan Chih-kuan (潘志寬), head of the FDA's Division of Food Safety, the FDA's decision to revoke the tolerance for fluopyram was made to ease consumers' concerns and avoid unnecessary misunderstanding.

The FDA and COA will reconsider the use of fluopyram and its residue limit and will strengthen communication with the public before a further decision is made, he said.