A Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) subsidiary that supplies edible oils was yesterday ordered to recall 21 of its products because they are thought to contain adulterated ingredients.
Like Formosa Oilseed Processing Co (福懋), Ting Hsin International was found to have used adulterated oil from Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co (大統) in products it manufactured for Wei Chuan Food Corp (味全), a brand-name food company.
A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report on Saturday found that six of Formosa Oilseed’s olive oils were blended with inferior oils, such as canola oil, with two comprising 50 percent Chang Chi oil.
Photo: CNA
According to Changhua County Public Health Bureau director-general Yeh Yen-po (葉彥伯), Chang Chi chairman Kao Cheng-li (高振利) on Saturday confessed that his firm had been selling oil to two major manufacturers — Formosa Oilseed and Ting Hsin — but denied selling it to other companies.
After inspecting Ting Hsin’s factory in Pingtung, the Pingtung County Health Bureau found that the company had used Chang Chi oil for 21 products that it manufactured for Wei Chuan and ordered them to be taken off the market.
The Pingtung bureau and the Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday morning demanded that Ting Hsin provide a list of all its oil products to be investigated further, adding that if the food company does not comply, it will be forced to pull all of its edible oils from stores.
At a press conference held by the ministry yesterday afternoon, FDA Acting Director-General Shiu Ming-neng (許銘能) said that Wei Chuan has since provided a list of the 21 products to the authorities.
On Oct. 22, Wei Chuan released a statement on its Web site saying that its oil products are all “natural and safe.”
Following the discovery of Ting Hsin’s adulterated oil use, Wei Chuan issued another statement saying it had been unaware of the practice, but decided to test all of its possibly tainted products.
Wei Chuan released another statement yesterday saying that it had tested all of its oil products and the results were negative for copper chlorophyllin — the chemical substance Chang Chi had illicitly used for its oil — and gossypol.
When asked if it is possible that the oil products could test negative for copper chlorophyllin, but still have been mixed with Chang Chi’s adulterated oil, Feng Jun-lan (馮潤蘭), the newly appointed director of the FDA’s Northern Center for Regional Administration, said it was possible because “Wei Chuan’s oil products are at the end of the manufacturing line.”
Shiu said the authorities would continue to probe if any other Wei Chuan products were mixed with Chang Chi oil, adding that prosecution and investigation units were working on making sure that Wei Chuan really did not know about the adulteration.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique