More cities and counties have joined a nationwide boycott against food products made by Wei Chuan Food Corp (味全) and other Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) subsidiaries as the Food and Drug Administration endeavors to collect more evidence to determine whether the conglomerate adulterated its cooking lard products with animal feed oil.
By press time last night, the nation’s five special municipalities, along with 14 cities and counties, had announced plans to stop selling Ting Hsin International’s products at government agencies and public schools. Hualien County had not.
Some made the announcements yesterday, after others did so late on Friday, following calls from several civic groups and prominent individuals for consumers to refuse to purchase goods and services from the controversy-plagued conglomerate and its subsidiaries.
Photo: Chou Szu-yu, Taipei Times
“Ting Hsin International Group’s decision to produce ‘black-hearted’ cooking oil shows that it has deviated from its business ethics and corporate social responsibility. In view of this, the bureau has determined to … weigh in on the boycott campaign initiated by civic groups,” the Greater Kaohsiung Government Bureau of Education said yesterday in a press release.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said that what he described as unscrupulous companies also deserved fines high enough to bankrupt them, while New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) said companies that failed to uphold ethics and fulfill corporate social responsibility should be subjected not only to the law, but also to the harshest condemnation from the public.
Meanwhile, the National Civil Servant Association, a federation of civil servant associations, issued a statement yesterday calling on its members to boycott food products manufactured by “black-hearted” enterprises, including Ting Hsin, and to put the businesses on the blacklist restricted from government procurement contracts.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The National Alliance of Parents Organization and the Secondary and Elementary School Principals Association released a joint statement yesterday urging the public to stop buying Ting Hsin food items.
The National Federation of Teachers Unions said it was considering mobilizing teachers across the nation to take to the streets to demand apologies and compensation from the conglomerate.
The Consumers’ Foundation said that it would not rule out organizing civic activities nationwide to support a boycott because “public authorities are no longer reliable.”
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan and CNA
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