Following Wednesday’s mistaken release of a list of companies to be ordered to pull their oil products off the shelves, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday apologized again for the blunder as it formally released a list of edible oil products that have been found to be substandard.
Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) called the initial release of the list an “unforgivable” mistake and has demanded that the personnel responsible be punished.
On Wednesday morning, the FDA released a list of 37 oil products that were apparently to be pulled from the shelves, including products from brand-name companies and imported oil.
Later that day, the agency amended the statement that had been sent to local health authorities, saying it was meant to say “conducting factory examinations” rather than “pulling off the shelves.”
At a press conference yesterday, FDA Acting Director-General Shiu Ming-neng (許銘能) again apologized for the gaffe and said that two executives at the FDA Northern Center for Regional Administration, the office responsible for the release, were to be held accountable for the mistake by being removed from their posts.
After days of guessing and probing from the media, the agency revealed the results of its examination of oil products yesterday.
It said 76 oil products are suspected of being substandard due to a mismatch between their fatty acid compositions and those on the official edible oil database, while 31 of them have been confirmed as being adulterated.
Fatty acid composition as a measurement is used globally to differentiate between different kinds of edible oil and to ensure the accuracy of food labeling.
“A total of 236 oil products were examined and 76 were found to not exactly conform to the fatty acid compositions indicated by our oil database. After two days of factory visits and inspections, and a meeting with professionals this morning, 31 of the 76 have been confirmed as being doctored,” Shiu said. “Seventeen of the 76 passed the scrutiny and 28 are in need of further investigation. Six of the 28 are imported products that will need certifications from the original manufacturers.”
Fifteen of the 31 adulterated oils are from Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co (大統長基) and Flavor Full Food Inc (富味鄉), while the other 16 were either labeled as pure camellia oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, flaxseed oil, sesame oil or black sesame oil, the FDA said, adding that the manufacturers would be fined up to NT$15 million (US$510,000).
Of the 11 companies that are responsible for the 16 oil products, nine have already provided the affidavit required by the health authority guaranteeing that the raw materials and additives on food labels are correctly stated.
“This would make them liable for fraud. However, since the inspections were conducted on oil products manufactured before they provided the affidavit, further investigation is required for confirmation,” FDA official Tsai Shu-chen (蔡淑貞) said.
Executive Yuan spokesperson Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said Jiang, at yesterday’s weekly Cabinet meeting, chastised the Ministry of Health and Welfare for the error and said a similar mistake must not be allowed to happen again.
Government officials should be more careful when handling food safety cases, especially when the issue is at the center of public attention, to prevent erosion of confidence in the government’s ability to deal with the problem, Cheng quoted Jiang as saying.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for