The Taichung City government recently found that around 8 percent of the rice dumplings it sampled failed to pass food safety standards, raising concerns among those who plan to feast on the delicacy during the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival.

With the Dragon Boat Festival just a few weeks away, housewives are buying glutinous rice dumplings and the ingredients from the markets. But few of them know how to select safe ingredients.

Common ingredients used in glutinous rice dumplings such as dried shrimps and dried radish are mostly imported from China and it's difficult for consumers to tell the quality of the dried foods.

To avoid putting harmful ingredients in the rice dumplings, the traditional rice dumpling store with 60 years of history just simply make dumplings without these dried radish and shrimps.

According to the Taichung City's Department of Health, 8% of the 51 ingredients tested failed to pass the food safety inspection, with some of the shrimps containing excessive amount of sulfure dioxide.

Dried shrimps, chestnuts, and radish are the most commonly used ingredients in making glutinous rice dumplings, but teaing too many of the unhealthy ingredients may lead to health problems.

However, for rice dumpling lovers, we have some good news for you, which is that the unqualified rate of rice dumplings and ingredients this year is a lot lower than last year.

Still, experts said that consumers should not eat too many rice dumplings because most dumplings contain too much salt and calories.