Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業), the nation’s largest food manufacturer, yesterday became engulfed in the nation’s latest cooking oil scandal, with 19 of its beef-based products ordered off the shelves, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said.
“Uni-President reported to the Greater Tainan Government’s Department of Health on Thursday that it had procured a batch of refined beef tallow weighing 5.57 tonnes from Ting Hsin Oil and Fat Industrial Co (頂新製油實業) via its oil and fat manufacturing subsidiary, President Nisshin Corp (統清) on June 10,” FDA Interim Director-General Chiang Yu-mei (姜郁美) told a press conference in Taipei.
Chiang said President Nisshin ordered 15 tonnes of beef tallow with Mitsubishi Corp (Taiwan) on May 29 after its oil refinery equipment broke down. The latter then purchased the oil from Ting Hsin Oil, which shipped the product directly to President Nisshin.
Photo: CNA
An investigation confirmed that the oil originated from Vietnam-based Dai Hanh Phuc Co, which lies at the center of the latest cooking oil scandal involving Ting Hsin Oil, Chiang said.
Dai Hanh Phuc Co is thought to have exported a total of 5,802 tonnes of falsely labeled animal feed-grade oil — including 3,216 tonnes of lard, 2,476 tonnes of beef tallow and 110 tonnes of coconut oil — to Ting Hsin Oil over the past three years.
The discovery has led to a recall of 54 Ting Hsin Oil products and eight beef tallow items, affecting dozens of food companies and nearly 100 foodstuffs, including Uni-President’s products.
Among Uni-President’s products are beef instant noodles (蔥燒牛肉風味) marketed under its Tong Yi Mein (統一麵) brand, chili beef flavor instant noodles (蔥燒牛肉麵) and beef flavor instant noodles (珍味牛肉麵) sold under its Imperial Big Meals (滿漢大餐) brand, as well as One More Cup’s various beef instant noodles.
Chiang said the administration was still working to determine the distribution of the remaining 9.43 tonnes of beef tallow President Nisshin bought.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
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