Shares of Wei Chuan Foods Corp (味全食品工業), one of the nation’s leading food product suppliers, took a beating yesterday morning after the company announced the previous night that it was recalling 12 products said to be made with recycled waste oil.
Many investors have feared that the revelation that Wei Chuan used problematic oil to make its products has raised concerns over food safety, which is likely to adversely impact the bottom line of the food sector, dealers said.
The selling of Wei Chuan shares spread to other food stocks, particularly edible oil makers, to send the entire food sector into a tailspin, they added.
Wei Chuan opened down 7 percent, the maximum daily decline, where it stayed until the end of the session to close at NT$40.40. Dealers said that the stock could suffer more downward movement.
Selling in Wei Chuan spread to other food stocks, with Ve Wong Corp (味王), a local manufacturer of food, drinks and seasonings, down 3.32 percent at NT$23.30 and Gourmet Master Co (美食達人) down 4.23 percent at NT$238.00. The food sub-index ended down 1.29 percent.
The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed 0.22 percent lower at 9,407.94 points.
“The oil issue revealed by Wei Chuan has hit consumer confidence in the local food business hard,” Hua Nan Securities analyst Kevin Su (蘇俊宏) said. “It was no surprise that shares of Wei Chuan faced heavy downward pressure soon after the local bourse opened, and the weakness continued with no signs of any immediate rebound.”
According to Su, there have been piling orders placed by investors, waiting to sell an additional 4.4 million Wei Chuan shares in yesterday’s morning session.
The current share price of Wei Chuan is a new low since January last year.
“Wei Chuan’s daily turnover reached about 1 million shares on average. The selling orders could push the stock down further at a time when many investors have been afraid that the impact from recycled oil problems will snowball,” Su said.
On Thursday, Wei Chuan said it was recalling 12 products, including its popular pork canned fiber and meat paste, after it admitted they had been made using oil provided by Kaohsiung-based Chang Guann Co (強冠企業) since April. Wei Chuan promised consumers a refund of these products.
The Chan Guann product used material provided by an illegal Pingtung County-based company which, according to prosecutors, reclaimed oil from kitchen waste.
Wei Chuan said the recall and refunds could cost it NT$45.83 million, and the inventory of problematic products could cost another NT$33.58 million, bringing total losses to about NT$80 million.
In November last year, Wei Chuan was caught using adulterated ingredients in 21 of its edible oil products.
In the first half of this year, Wei Chuan posted NT$0.85 in earnings per share, down NT$1.09 from the same period last year.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or