Tainted oil sold on to 473 businesses
Print Edition
TAIWAN authorities have detained the main suspect in a food safety scare involving recycled cooking oil which officials said had been supplied to more than 900 restaurants and bakeries.
Meanwhile, China’s top quality watchdog has warned consumers on the mainland to be on the lookout for products which may have been exported by companies involved.
Kuo Lieh-chen, the owner of an illegal factory at the center of the scandal, was taken into custody on Saturday, AFP reported.
Five other people implicated in the case have been questioned and released on bail, the news agency said.
Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration said 933 restaurants, bakeries and food plants, including 397 in Taipei, had used tainted oil supplied by Chang Guann Co, a leading food oil manufacturer.
Investigators found that in six months from February Chang Guann bought 243 tons of tainted oil — collected from cookers, fryers and grease traps — from Kuo and mixed it with lard oil for sale to 235 customers islandwide.
Chang Guann has apologized but said it was unaware the oils were recycled.
Xinhua news agency said the scandal came to light after a police raid on the factory and the apprehension of six suspects alleged to have been selling recycled kitchen oil, off-cuts from slaughterhouses and grease from leather processing plants.
Of the oil Chang Guann had bought from the factory, 216 tons had been used as a base oil in the manufacture of 780 tons of edible lard oil. Chang Guann said the lard oil was divided into 51,700 cartons and marketed as “fragrant lard oil” and that 48,500 cartons had been sold.
Buyers included leading food companies Wei Chuan Foods Corp, Taiwan Sugar Corp, Chi Mei Frozen Food Co, Sheng Hsiang Jen Foods Co and Gourmet Master Co, which owns the bakery and coffee chain 85°C, Xinhua said.
Of the companies involved, 77 had confirmed use of the tainted oil to make products such as scallion pancakes, rice puddings, cookies, bread and dumplings, Taiwan authorities said, adding that 8,243.7 kilograms of items had been taken off the shelves and sealed.
However, the island’s food and drug administration also said a trade company based in Taipei had bought tainted lard oil from Chang Guann and sold it on after repacking to at least 473 businesses, Taiwan media reported yesterday.
Wei Chuan Foods, the Taiwanese unit of Ting Hsin International Group which owns the Master Kong instant noodle brand, said it had recalled 12 types of products including meat paste and pork floss which may have used recycled oil.
So far the authorities have seized 49 tons of suspected recycled oil from Chang Guann and have ordered all the companies it supplies to recall products that may contain the tainted oil.
The mainland’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said it had contacted Taiwan authorities for more detailed information about affected companies and brands and products that may have been sent to the mainland.
The administration said there had been no imports of tainted oil from Chang Guann itself but it had informed regional authorities to suspend inspection applications from Taiwan companies said to have bought tainted oil from Chang Guann.
The scandal has also affected neighboring Hong Kong and Macau.
Both governments immediately launched investigations.
The case is the second food scandal to hit Taiwan in less than a year.
In November 2013, Wei Chuan and others were ordered to recall tens of thousands of bottles of tainted cooking oil it purchased from Changchi Foodstuff Factory. A month later, the factory owner was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
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