Taiwan's finance ministry is reassuring shoppers that tainted Chinese cabbage cannot legally reach the island, good news for consumers worried about food safety.

• Reports of formaldehyde-treated cabbage in China sparked fears it could arrive in Taiwan hidden inside South Korean kimchi.
• Fresh Chinese cabbage is banned from Taiwan, and Chinese kimchi is banned whether frozen or chilled.
• Kimchi made in South Korea from Chinese cabbage counts as a processed food and falls under a different customs category, so it is not automatically blocked.
• Customs only checks names, quantities and prices; food safety and pesticide testing is the health ministry's job, and goods clear only after it issues a permit.
• Checks on the failed Chinese products flagged by South Korea have so far found no kimchi made from them entering Taiwan.

Outlook: Expect tighter tracing of kimchi shipments while the health authority keeps monitoring where the tainted Chinese cabbage ended up.