The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday launched an investigation into a company for allegedly passing off industrial salt as food-grade salt and selling it on the market for more than three years.
Authorities said the industrial salt — which contains harmful chemicals and minerals — has likely been consumed by millions of people. Consumers would have been hard pressed to spot the difference between the two types of salt, they said.
Officials from the Kaohsiung County Health Bureau said industrial salt is primarily used for manufacturing and could pose serious risks — including cancer and damage to fetuses — if consumed.
Prosecutor Wang Chun-li (王俊力), also a spokesman for the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office, said at a press conference yesterday that the company, Huan Hai Co, bought packets of industrial salt from state-owned Taiyen for NT$3 per kilogram and resold the packets for as much as NT$22 per kilogram.
He said the profit Huan Hai made from selling the salt was likely in the hundreds of millions of NT dollars.
More than 250,000 packets have already been sold on the market, he said.
Huan Hai owner Song Chi-chung (宋濟中) was released on NT$300,000 bail. His daughter, who was allegedly working with him, was also questioned by prosecutors.
At a separate setting yesterday, Taiyen chairman Hung Hsi-yao (洪璽曜) advised consumers to avoid purchasing food-grade salt originating from China.
He said that as China has strict export regulations on food-grade salt, it was likely that consumers were purchasing industrial salt instead.
He said since the salt market opened up to imports in 1994, store shelves have been flooded with different brands and types of salt.
However, he said that consumers should look for the CAS or GMP seals of approval before purchasing such products.
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