Simply tragic. 
Guy
Damn. I just ate some yesterday. Hope it wasnāt tainted.
Since this was the first time the product had violated regulations, the FDA will increase the rate of inspections. This particular shipment of Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce had been imported from the U.S. by Emporium Corporation (ę²³ę“ä¼ę„).
someoneās doing some late-night paper shredding
I canāt help wondering if this is for real. Sulphur dioxide is a gas, and itās used in food applications precisely because it tends to diffuse out over time. It seems unlikely that these bottles could have spent weeks on a boat and still contain that much SO2. Maybe someone can check my working, but 0.5g would be about 200ml of gaseous SO2. Taiwan News getting their units messed up, perhaps?
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not the first time they get units mixed up
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I just worked through the typical dosing for metabisulphite and I think āgramsā is correct. 0.03g/kg is 30ppm, which is a sensible maximum after the SO2 has been diminished by reaction and offgassing. 0.5g/kg just seems more like someone putting a decimal point in the wrong place, doing their tests incorrectly, or being peevish.
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I think thereās a protectionist stint here because Iām sure local producers donāt follow such strict rules.
Not that I care for sirracha because you get better hot sauce in Taiwan.
I donāt think sulfur dioxide (SO2) is what they test for here, but rather sulfur dioxide residues, primarily sulfites (SO32ā) or bisulfites (HSO3ā). Iād have to look into it more to figure out whatās going on, but the Taiwan FDA has a published test method here based on converting the sulfite/bisulfite ions ābackā into SO2 and titration.
Your math is fine ((0.5/64)Ć24 = 188 mL for room temperature and pressure), but it wouldnāt be present as gaseous SO2 under these conditions but rather dissolved sulfite/bisulfite ions (dissolved gases are another thing, but I guess the SO2 would be too big to diffuse through the sealed plastic bottles anyway). If it were a gas, I guess some of the bottles might have exploded due to overpressure.
Nonetheless, 0.5 g/kg does seem rather high for the permitted limit of 0.03 g/kg and the amounts typically present in wines etc., so maybe they did put the decimal point in the wrong place. Iām not sure where it comes from here - presumably either fumigation of the chilis or other ingredients during manufacture or naturally produced during fermentation of the sauce.
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Brain be like 
Sometiiimes I feel Iāve got to
run awayā¦
Regardless of sloppy reporting, itās just sulfites. A preservative that in one shape or form has been used back to Roman times. Of all the stuff that has ended up in food in Taiwan over the years.
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Isnāt this one from the USA a ripped off copy of the real Sriracha from Thailand?
I canāt keep track.
This one seems to be more Tabasco-like flavored than the Thailand sririchasā.
Itās the iconic Vietnamese American hot sauce, invented (or stolen, if you prefer) by a guy called David Tran. Itās legendary!
Guy
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Maybe Thai one is the rip-off of the real American Sriracha. 
Maybe it was a fake one from China, produced in Africa then imported via the Europe with US credentials?
Maybe.
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Yes, itās the Vietnamese refugee David Tran who claims to be Chinese who ripped off the name of the famous original Thai chili sauce as well as the name of the province where itās made.
I like the California version very much and eat it on about everything. Burgers, burritos, noodles, rice. It is fermented chiles without any modified food starch in many of the authentic brands. I guess Iāll have to bring my own back to Taiwan.