Pesticide screening capacity to grow: ministryBy Esme Yeh / Staff reporterMore than 80,000 potential pesticide residue cases were tested via rapid screening with mass spectrometry over the past three years, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Agency said, adding that its annual screening capacity would be boosted to 50,000 cases this year. Photo: Tsai Cheng-min, Taipei TimesThe agency aims to increase its annual screening capacity to 50,000 cases this year, after it passed its 40,000-case goal last year with the screening of 40,470 cases, Chen said. These pretreatment stations not only make it convenient for agricultural workers to use the screening service, but also facilitate the screening process by conducting pretreatments, including homogenization, shaking and extraction, he said. Rapid screening test results can inform agricultural workers about the pesticide residue amounts before produce enters the market, the ministry said. Submitters whose samples are found to have pesticide residues would be required to delay the harvest and undergo screening again, it said.

Source: Taipei Times January 10, 2026 17:15 UTC