Shares in the local food sector declined yesterday on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) amid the latest food safety concerns, with Wei Chuan Foods Corp (味全食品工業) bearing the brunt of the impact.
The food sector sub-index ended down 0.1 percent on the TWSE, but Wei Chuan, the nation’s second-largest food manufacturer, saw its shares tumble 6.25 percent to close at NT$31.5, dragged down mainly by the oil scandal that broke on Wednesday, when Cheng I Food Co Ltd (正義), an affiliate company of Wei Chuan, was alleged to have used tainted oil meant for animal feed in its cooking oil products.
The incident is the third food safety scandal to hit the company’s parent group Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際集團) and Wei Chuan in a year, calling into questions the group’s credibility and management.
Wei Chuan announced it would conduct a “preventive recall” of three products that use cooking oils manufactured by Cheng I, with estimated losses totaling NT$438,000 (US$14,394).
Formosa Oilseed Processing Co (福懋油脂) shares shrank 6.83 percent to close at NT$21.15, indirectly affected by the oil safety issue.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said it would work with the Ministry of Health and Welfare to develop stricter requirements for local food manufacturers establishing factories.
Minister of Economic Affairs Woody Duh (杜紫軍) said at a press conference that the government would demand that food manufacturers register their food factories and animal feed factories separately once an amendment to the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) is passed by the legislature.
Currently, many food manufacturers have two kinds of factories on the same site.
"For example, the manufacturer may have a factory to extract oil from soybeans and another factory to make the soybean dregs into animal feed," Duh said.
Industrial Development Bureau Director-General Wu Ming-ji (吳明機) said that between 200 and 300 food manufacturers have two kinds of factories at the same site.
If the firms fail to separate their factories in six months, the government will demand that they choose between operating one or the other, he said.
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