401 products linked to tainted cooking oil ordered recalled

An inspector from the Kaohsiung Department of Health checks oil products on a store shelf yesterday. Photo courtesy of Kaohsiung Department of Health

FOOD SAFETY:Products that are on shelves after 12pm would be safe for consumption, and penalties await those who fail to comply with the recall, the health minister said

By Chung Li-hua and Fion Khan / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA

All products linked to tainted cooking oil manufactured by Central Union Oil Corp （中聯油脂） between April and last month must be removed from store shelves by noon today, Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang （石崇良） said yesterday.

The precautionary recall of products linked to tainted cooking oil was increased from 232 to 401 items on Wednesday, after health authorities added 169 products, including packaged chicken breasts, instant noodles, convenience store meals and restaurant dishes.

Products added to the recall include six items from Le Ble d’Or （金色三麥）, two rice burgers from Lao Xie Zhen （老協珍）, 33 products from Louisa Coffee, 45 packaged chicken products from Charoen Pokphand Enterprise （Taiwan） Co （台灣卜蜂）, eight instant noodle products from Ve Wong Corp （味王） and 14 convenience store ready meals made by Ping Rong Foods Co’s （屏榮坊） Xinfeng plant.

The Food and Drug Administration （FDA） said the expanded list followed its latest tracing of products made with tainted Central Union cooking oil, which contained excessive levels of the carcinogen benzopyrene.

About 1,300 tonnes of the contaminated oil was distributed to 360 downstream businesses through 30 batches of 18 products sold by Taisun Enterprise Co （泰山）, Fwusow Industry Co （福壽） and Formosa Oilseed Processing Co （福懋）, the FDA said.

To ensure the highest standards of food safety, the ministry ordered a comprehensive recall of all suspected oil products, Shih said.

Products that are on store shelves after 12pm would be safe for consumption, he said.

The FDA is working closely with local health bureaus to enforce the directive, and vendors who fail to remove the recalled items by the deadline would face severe penalties, FDA Director-General Chiang Chih-kang （姜至剛） said.

Vendors would only be permitted to resume sales after products pass inspections or are certified safe by local health bureaus, he said.

Shih said they found discrepancies between Central Union’s internal test results and those conducted by downstream companies.

Prosecutors are investigating potential internal reporting failures and management issues at Central Union, he said, adding that regulatory authorities have fined companies that failed to comply with statutory food safety reporting requirements.

Meanwhile, Premier Cho Jung-tai （卓榮泰） told a Cabinet meeting that authorities would investigate, penalize, disclose and recall any problematic products without exception.

Central and local governments have established mechanisms to assist consumers in filing class-action lawsuits against the responsible parties, he said.

Businesses should also adopt lenient standards and expedite consumer refunds, he added.

The government is considering amending the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation （食品安全衛生管理法） to prevent similar contraventions, Cho said.