TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Changhua County Department of Health confirmed Tuesday that eggs potentially tainted with pesticides from a Changhua farm were distributed in Taichung and New Taipei.

Wenya Livestock Farm (文雅畜牧場) sold 40,000 potentially contaminated eggs to Lung Chung Egg Shop (龍忠蛋行) in Taichung and another 17,000 to various distributors in New Taipei, per Liberty Times. Of the New Taipei batch, 7,000 eggs were halted by Changhua authorities before shipment.

Changhua Health Department chief Yeh Yen-po (葉彥伯) said that of the 40,000 eggs received by Lung Chung Egg Shop, about 29,000 were sold to customers, per Liberty Times. The New Taipei Department of Health reported that roughly half of the approximately 10,000 suspect eggs in the city have been recovered, and no contaminated eggs have been found so far.

The Changhua County Animal Disease Control Center said Wenya Livestock Farm was ordered to suspend egg shipments on Nov. 5 after reports of pesticide contamination. The suspension was lifted on Nov. 8 after a new report indicated pesticides were not detected in the test batch, but the order was reinstated on Nov. 10.

The ADCC noted that although the eggs sold to Lung Chung Egg Shop were distributed on Nov. 9, the farm should not have sold any eggs before receiving written notification that the suspension had been lifted. Changhua Agriculture Department chief Kuo Chih-shan (郭至善) acknowledged errors in inspection and enforcement that led to the distribution of potentially contaminated eggs.

The Changhua District Prosecutors Office searched Lung Chung Egg Shop on Monday and questioned its owner, Lin (林), about why the business was willing to purchase eggs from Wenya Livestock Farm so soon after restrictions were lifted, per UDN. Wenya Livestock Farm owner Cheng (陳) underwent a second round of questioning on Tuesday to clarify why the farm rushed to sell eggs before receiving written clearance and whether older eggs were mixed with newer batches, as the Nov. 9 shipment exceeded the farm’s average daily output of 40,000 eggs, per UDN.

Lin said he bought the eggs after hearing from the farm that tests had found no problems and that officials allowed sales, per EDN. He began transporting eggs on Nov. 9 and started selling them the following day.

Lin said he later received an urgent notice from Taichung officials to recall the latest batch and has not purchased from Wenya Livestock Farm since. He argued that the Changhua County government failed to stop the sale from taking place and that he is willing to issue refunds or exchanges for potentially contaminated eggs.

Some customers, however, argued that Lin did not do enough to address the situation, per CNA. They said Lin failed to inform them whether their purchases included potentially contaminated eggs, leaving them to resolve the issue on their own.