A Taiwanese sesame oil maker has been told to stop production and pull a batch of black sesame oil after tests found a cancer-linked contaminant above the legal limit — bad news for the company and for shoppers who bought it.

• Tests on a batch of cold-pressed black sesame oil from a Chiayi maker found benzopyrene above the legal limit.
• The company reported the problem itself, and health inspectors ordered production halted and the batch recalled.
• The affected batch — a few hundred small bottles made in late March — went to Santa Cruz organic stores for sale.
• Other batches are being tested, and nothing goes back on shelves until it passes.
• The contamination likely came from the roasting stage, which the company outsources to a plant in another county.

Outlook: Food safety regulators plan to send experts into the plant to trace where in the process the contamination happens and prevent a repeat.