TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A court approved the detention Saturday (March 2) of the manager of the company which imported chili powder from China in which the banned dye Sudan III was found.

New Taipei City-based Bao Shin Enterprises Co. had bought the powder from a company in the Chinese province of Henan. The importer went on to sell the product to at least 13 food processing companies, some of which used the powder in other products which eventually ended up on the shelves of supermarkets.

The discovery of the carcinogenic additive led to raids by investigators on Bao Shin Friday (March 1), per CNA. Five managers and employees were taken in for questioning, but only the company’s top executive, a man surnamed Liu (劉), was charged with breaking the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation.

The New Taipei District Court approved prosecutors’ request to keep him detained incommunicado. They had argued Liu might destroy evidence and collude with other suspects.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said that by Saturday, a total of more than 20,000 kilograms of products made with the imported chili powder had been removed from shelves, CNA reported.