The Taiwan High Court yesterday reversed an earlier ruling in an adulterated oil scandal by ruling that Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co (大統長基) was guilty of breaching food safety regulations and violating a contract with Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar).
The High Court’s Taichung Branch ordered Changhua County-based Chang Chi to pay NT$11.91 million (US$374,276) to Taisugar, which had sued it for damages.
However, in its lawsuit Taisugar had asked for NT$83 million in compensation from the company.
It was discovered in 2013 that Chang Chi had been adding copper chlorophyllin, a coloring agent, to its cooking oil products, which had been sold to several other food manufacturers and downstream retailers.
Chang Chi supplied cooking oil products to Taisugar from 2007 to 2013.
In the verdict at the first trial in 2013, the Changhua District Court ruled against Taisugar’s complaint, saying that it failed to provide evidence that copper chlorophyllin has detrimental effects on people’s health.
The High Court yesterday reversed that ruling, saying that the onus was on Chang Chi to prove that copper chlorophyllin does not have detrimental effects on people’s health.
“As Chang Chi is a cooking oil manufacturer, who would be most knowledgeable on the quality of its products? Therefore it is unfair for their clients and consumers to have to provide proof of health hazards. The onus should be on Chang Chi to prove that adding copper chlorophyllin to cooking oil has no detrimental effect on people’s health,” the ruling said.
Chang Chi executives had argued in court that they began to add copper chlororphyllin to cooking oils in March 2013, and not in 2007, so they should not pay compensation for violating the Taisugar contract.
In a separate case connected to the scandal, the Changhua District Court in December 2013 found Chang Chi chairman Kao Cheng-li (高振利) guilty of fraud and violating the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法). It sentenced him to 16 years in prison and fined him NT$50 million.years in prison and fined him NT$50 million.
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