Chang Guann faces a maximum fine of NT$88 million (US$2.93 million) if it is found to have been aware of the oil’s history before processing it for use as an edible oil, Yeh said.
During the press conference, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) reiterated the ministry’s determination to crack down on food safety irregularities.
“To achieve that goal, the central government has established an inter-ministerial task force to deal with the inferior lard scandal; mobilized the FDA and health departments nationwide to trace, remove and seize potentially tainted products; urge food companies that have used the problematic lard oil to immediately report to health authorities or face a fine not exceeding NT$3 million; and has brought together a group of specialists to discuss potential health repercussions from consumption of recycled waste oil,” Chiu said.
Meanwhile, school authorities scrambled yesterday to pull products involved in the latest food safety scandal from school meals.
The Ministry of Education yesterday ordered that another Chang Guann oil product, marketed as deep-frying oil, be suspended from use at schools after finding that it was in use at more than 100 elementary and junior-high schools in Taipei, as well as at one private university in Southern Taiwan.
The ministry’s department of planning head Wang Chun-chuan (王俊權) said that although the item is not on the list of problematic products, the ministry issued the directive because of food safety concerns, ordering that all student lunch providers stop using Chang Guann’s oil products.
The deep-frying oil is used by food companies that prepare lunch for elementary and junior-high school students, while a delicatessen at the university used it for food processing.
He said that should food products at school canteens be found to have been manufactured using questionable oil products or contain ingredients prepared with such products, they are also to be banned.
He urged the Ministry of Health and Welfare to compile a list of nonconforming products and make the information available to the public as soon as possible, so that schools can ban the products on their own initiative.
Additional reporting by Rachel Lin
RSS