Defendants in an adulterated cooking oil case that shook the nation last year, including former Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) executive Wei Ying-chun (魏應充), were found not guilty of breaching the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) by the Changhua District Court yesterday.
The Changhua County Prosecutors’ Office in October last year charged former Ting Hsin Oil and Fat Industrial Co (頂新製油實業) chairman Wei over violations of the act after investigators found the company had imported animal feed-grade material from Vietnam-based oil manufacturer Dai Hanh Phuc Co (大幸福) and declared it to customs as fit for human consumption. It was then used to make oil for cooking and making pastry.
At the time, prosecutors asked for a 30-year prison sentence for Wei, while asking for 18 years each for 59-year-old former Ting Hsin Oil and Fat general manager Chang Mei-feng (常梅峰), 43-year-old former acting president Chen Mao-chia (陳茂嘉) and 56-year-old Yang Chen-yi (楊振益), the owner of Dai Hanh Phuc.
Photo: Chen Kuan-pei, Taipei Times
The prosecutors also recommended the confiscation of allegedly illegal profits Ting Hsin International Group made from the oil products, totaling NT$440 million (US$13.4 million).
Yesterday’s ruling said prosecutors failed to prove that Ting Hsin Oil and Fat sourced fat extracted from unhealthy animals or that the company’s products were manufactured using unsanitary processes.
The defendants could not be proved to have committed the crimes they were charged with and are therefore not guilty, it said.
Photo: Yen Hung-chun, Taipei Times
The case can be appealed.
Wei resigned as chairman of Ting Hsin Oil and Fat, Cheng I Food Co (正義股份) and Wei Chuan Foods Corp (味全食品工業) — all companies controlled by the family-run Ting Hsin International Group — after the firms were found to be producing questionable oil products.
In a statement released after the ruling, the group said it respects the court’s decision and would accept all criticism from society, adding it would seek to give back to Taiwan, which it considers its home, as much as possible.
Netizens and civic groups reacted angrily to the ruling.
Saying the verdicts were vastly different from what the public expected, many netizens said that the nation’s judiciary was dead.
One netizen sarcastically said that he was glad to hear the ruling because it meant the oil he consumed over the past decade was safe and that he had not consumed tainted oil products for a decade or more.
Homemakers United Foundation secretary-general Lai Hsiao-fen (賴曉芬) called on consumers to boycott Ting Hsin’s products in light of the ruling, adding that consumers should use their autonomy and make corporations pay a price for malfeasance.
Former Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office head prosecutor Hu Yuan-lung (胡原龍), who had been involved in the investigation of the case, said the discrepancy between public expectations and the ruling was due to the hastiness of the Changhua County Prosecutors’ Office.
The Changhua office investigated for only eight days before it indicted the defendants, Hu said, adding that the investigation could not find substantial evidence to back the allegations, which was the prime reason the collegiate benchruled the way it did
The Food and Drug Administration said it would cooperate with the Changhua office to provide evidence, vowing to appeal the ruling.
Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital department of clinical toxicology director Yen Tsung-hai (顏宗海) said that cooking oils have few categories of inspection, most of which only search for total polar compounds and heavy metals, but there could be other harmful ingredients in oils.
National Taiwan University (NTU) toxicology professor Chiang Chih-kang (姜至剛) called on legal amendments to define items that can cause chronic toxicity, while NTU’s Food Safety Center executive officer Hsu Fu (許輔) said the government should grant food inspection controllers more power to prevent food safety incidents.
Additional reporting by Chen Ping-hung and Wu Liang-yi
ANTI-SHIP CONFIGURATION: The Tuo Chiang-class vessels are to be built for NT$9.7 billion by Lung Teh, a shipyard that previously built four similar corvettes for the navy The Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday awarded Lung Teh Shipbuilding (龍德造船) a NT$9.7 billion Co (US$317.57 million) contract to build five Tuo Chiang-class corvettes with anti-ship capabilities, a defense official familiar with the matter said yesterday. The corvettes would carry vertical launchers for four Hsiung Feng II (HF-2) missiles, as well as eight Hsiung Feng III (HF-3) anti-ship missiles, in contrast to ships configured for anti-air warfare, which carry eight HF-2 and four HF-3 missiles, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The anti-ship corvettes would be armed for improved standoff range against surface combatants and carry the latest
PARTIAL SUPPORT: Morris Chang said he agrees with the US’ goal to slow advances of China’s chip sector, but US policies that might boost chip prices perplex him Washington’s efforts to on-shore semiconductor production might lead to surges in chip prices and supply bottlenecks, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) said yesterday. The 91-year-old industry veteran said he supports parts of Washington’s effort to slow China’s progress on advanced chip manufacturing. China is still six years behind Taiwan in making advanced chips, despite years-long efforts to catch up, Chang told a Commonwealth Magazine forum that he coheadlined with Tufts University assistant professor Chris Miller, an expert on the US-China rivalry’s effects on chip manufacturing. However, Chang said that other parts of the effort, particularly Washington’s on-shoring
‘COINCIDENCE’: The former president should keep in mind local and global response to his actions and abide by the law to safeguard national interests, the MAC said The Presidential Office yesterday confirmed that it has received an application from former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to visit China next week and would be discussing his security detail. “As the travel restrictions on former president Ma have expired, we respect his plan to pay respect to his ancestors in China,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said. “We will review his travel plan and consult concerned agencies to assist him in arranging his security detail.” “We also hope that Ma, as a former commander in chief of Taiwan, acts in a manner that aligns with national interests and does not hurt
ALL CHILDREN ELIGIBLE: The Cabinet approved the latest version of the tax rebate distribution plan that unlike earlier versions, has no age limit, the finance ministry said Taiwanese and eligible foreign residents can from next week register online for a tax rebate of NT$6,000 (US$196) from last year’s NT$380 billion revenue surplus, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Cabinet earlier in the day approved the rebates for Taiwanese, foreign spouses of Taiwanese, foreign diplomats and their spouses, and Alien Permanent Resident Certificate holders, it said. Parents can also claim the rebates for their children, the ministry said, after earlier versions of the plan had excluded young children. Registration via 6000.gov.tw would be open from 8am on Wednesday, the ministry said, adding that the rebates would be wired to peoples’