Health authorities in New Taipei City are trying to track down 16 downstream suppliers after investigators confirmed findings from last week that tofu pudding (豆花) products from Lu Chia Foods Co (盧佳食品公司) are made using an industrial gypsum powder additive.
The gypsum powder was supplied by Yung Chang Gypsum Chemical Co (永昌石膏化工) and imported from China, authorities said.
New Taipei City’s Public Health Bureau yesterday ordered the removal of all Yung Chang gypsum powder products, which is added as a coagulant in processing soybean milk into tofu pudding and other tofu food items.
A bureau spokesperson said that New Taipei City prosecutors are taking up the judicial investigation and plan to charge Yung Chang with counterfeiting, falsifying documents and other offenses.
Lu Chia Foods Co last week was accused of using dialysis fluid containers — plastic barrels bought from a local hospital — for transporting grass jelly tea to sell to restaurants and street vendors. The company was also alleged to use industrial gypsum powder — calcium sulfate in chemical terms — as a coagulant additive to make tofu pudding.
Both items are traditional Taiwanese snacks; hot grass jelly tea is popular in winter, while tofu pudding with added syrup is eaten all year round.
Last week, Lu Chia Foods owner Lu Kuo-chin (盧國金) said his company used food-grade gypsum powder supplied by First Chemical Manufacture Co (第一化工), which in turn said it purchased the material from main upstream supplier Yung Chang.
Investigations subsequently revealed that Yung Chang had been operating a fraudulent scheme, authorities said.
“Yung Chang imported food-grade and industrial gypsum powder materials from China. The food-grade type was sold to companies to make tofu and related food products. The industrial gypsum powder was repackaged and relabeled as the ‘food-grade’ type, and sold to downstream firms for making tofu pudding,” bureau food and pharmaceutical management division head Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) said.
As of Monday, Yung Chang had imported a total of 4,825kg of Chinese gypsum powder this year, having already sold 4,675kg, the remainder had been confiscated by the bureau, Lin said.
Lin said Yung Chang’s owners have allegedly violated the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), and face charges of counterfeiting and falsifying documents, and could be punished with a maximum five-year prison term or maximum fines of NT$8 million (US$261,520).
National Tsing Hua University chemistry professor Ling Yung-chien (凌永健) yesterday confirmed warnings by nutritionists that industrial gypsum might contain higher levels of lead, cadmium, arsenic and other heavy metal elements, and that long-term ingestion might cause liver and kidney dysfunction, and could lead to cancer.
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