The Department of Health yesterday threatened to close certain McDonald's and Domino's fast food restaurants if they failed to improve the quality of their edible oil.
The threat came after two of the chains' restaurants — a McDonald's in Tucheng and a Domino's in Yonghe — tested positive on Monday for arsenic in their frying oil.
The McDonald's store showed levels of 0.923 parts per million (ppm) and 1.038ppm in tests conducted by Taipei County authorities, while the reading at Domino's was 1.105ppm. The legal maximum limit is 0.1ppm.
The arsenic results came as fast-food restaurants come under close scrutiny over the quality of oil used for frying following media reports that many stores used the same oil for more than a week, which can result in a buildup of carcinogens. The acid value of the oil is an indicator of whether its composition has changed because of repeated use.
“McDonald's will definitely be fined after failing the acid test for edible oil because this is not the first time this has happened. As for the positive arsenic test on Tuesday, we have yet to decide what to do,” said Hsu Ching-hsin (??, spokesman for the department's Food Safety Bureau.
“According to law, if they fail the acid value test again within a year, we will ask them to close their business,” Hsu said.
Hsu said that the department had launched an investigation to determine where the arsenic came from. If it appeared after the oil was used for frying food, McDonald's would be fined. If it was there from the beginning, the department would fine the oil manufacturer and request that McDonald's make improvements or the fast food restaurant could lose its operating permit.
“The fine will be between NT$30,000 and NT$300,000, as per the law,” Hsu said.
McDonald's and Domino's, however, said that they were the victims.
McDonald's spokesman Tsao Chang-chieh (曹昌傑) questioned the validity of the tests conducted by the Taipei County Government Bureau of Health. He said the same oil that tested positive for arsenic was sent to a lab at SGS Taiwan for tests and that the results were entirely different.
“SGS Taiwan approved our oil. We have faith in ourselves and will continue operations,” Tsao said.
Tsao said that all McDonald's branches used the same oil from the same manufacturer and that it was tested regularly.
Domino's also said it had sent the oil that tested positive to SGS Taiwan for a separate test and would make the results public when they are available.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
RSS