food safety scandal is rocking Taiwan island, following the detection of a toxic chemical in some high energy drinks products. Nearly half a million bottled drinks and 18 tons of juice powder have been pulled from the shelves.

Drinks tossed in the basket... ready to be poured away.

Consumer said, "I used to have sports drinks after exercise. But not anymore."

Rumors have been rife since last Friday, when Di-phthalate, an industrial plasticizer was found in sports drinks.

Investigations soon traced the chemical to an emulsifier produced by Yu Sheng Chemical, an additive company in Taiwan.

Emulsifiers are a legal additive in sports drinks and fruit juices, giving the drinks a "cloudy" and "rich" look.

But the company was found to have substituted palm oil with the Di-phthalate, or DEHP, to cut production costs.

Over the past week, more foodstuffs and beverages have been found to contain the chemical.

Drinks companies have been caught out by the scale of the scandal.

Yang Xishun, Beverage Producer, Taiwan, said, "We are still calculating our losses. All my products have been removed from the shelves, and I have loads more in stock."

The owner of Yu Sheng Chemical, Lai Chun-chieh, has been detained, pending further investigations.

Taiwan health authorities are suggesting people discard already purchased bottled drinks.

They're promising to trace any other products that might have been tainted by the toxic chemical.

DEHP is used in the manufacture of plastics. It's known to cause cancer, and can affect the hormone balance of young people if consumed.

Just half a liter of tainted drinks could be enough to exceed safe levels in an adult body.

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