Toxic scare jumps over the Straits

Thousands of bottles recalled for contamination by plastic additive

BEIJING - The scare over a cancer-causing plastic additive in food and drink products in Taiwan has spread to the Chinese mainland, with more than 4,800 beverage bottles suspected of contamination recalled, Beijing's top quality watchdog announced on Friday.

The additive, DEHP, which makes plastic soft and pliable, may have tainted 792 cases of imported beverages from Taiwan entering Shanghai in March, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said at a news conference.