A total of 20 GMP-certified pure edible oil products passed food safety tests and did not contain gossypol or any other mixture, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
GMP refers to “good manufacturing practice,” a quality label issued by the ministry.
The ministry’s statement came amid a food scare after authorities found that Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co’s (大統長基) so-called “pure” soybean oil, olive oil and peanut oil included 10 percent to 20 percent of cheaper cottonseed oil and other mixtures. Local health experts have warned that gossypol, a toxic crystalline compound present in cotton-seed oil, could lead to infertility.
Investigators quoted Chang Chi officials as saying that the company had manipulated its product manufacturing records when it was seeking GMP certificates for its products.
“The ministry has begun a thorough investigation of every cooking oil producer’s manufacturing process,” Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Woody Duh (杜紫軍) told a press conference.
“From now on, the ministry will check all cooking oil producers’ manufacturing process more strictly to restore public confidence in the credibility of GMP certificates,” he added.
The 20 edible oil products were manufactured by seven firms — Standard Foods Corp (佳格食品), Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業), Taiwan Sugar Corp (台糖), Taisun Enterprise Co (泰山企業), Formosa Oilseed Processing Co (福懋油脂), Fwusow Industry Co (福壽實業) and TTET Union Corp (大統益), the ministry said.
After a two-day test of GMP-labeled oil products claiming to be “100 percent pure,” the ministry will carry out tests on 109 blended edible oil products over the next seven days, Duh said.
He said the ministry has targeted 16 cooking oil producers, including the aforementioned seven, and it will publicize the results within two weeks after the tests are completed.
“The ministry will make an effort to revive consumer confidence in food products made in Taiwan,” Duh said.
Because blended oil products contain more ingredients, the ministry plans to send a group of experts to oil producers’ factories to check whether the sources of materials used for manufacturing match the firms’ documented data, Duh said.
After the tests on edible oil products and soy sauce, the ministry will examine 3,629 GMP-certified food products over the next three months to check if their ingredients match information indicated in their advertisements, he added.
Food shares have dropped 0.48 percent over the past four sessions amid the ongoing food scare. In comparison, the broader market has risen 0.47 percent over the same period.
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