The Control Yuan yesterday demanded the Department of Health (DOH) strengthen inspections of food chains to ensure the safety of cooking oil following a series of incidents in June, when some restaurants were found to be using the same oil for more than a week, which can lead to a buildup of carcinogens.
A motion by Control Yuan members Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏), Yang Mei-ling (楊美鈴) and Wu Feng-shan (吳豐山) to correct the DOH for negligent management of cooking oil was approved at the Control Yuan meeting yesterday.
The DOH was charged with delaying for years the establishment of a comprehensive management system to ensure that local health agencies check the quality of cooking oil at food chains.
Their statement said the cooking oil issue was a widespread and long-standing problem that was discovered by a consumer ombudsmen in 2002.
Although the DOH had enacted guidelines for re-using cooking oil at food eateries in 2003, it did not give directions to local authorities about inspections or enforcement until this July, the statement said.
According to the investigation report conducted by the Control Yuan members, none of the health agencies in local governments routinely conducted tests on cooking oil at food eateries, while the issue of cooking oil safety was never put onto their working agenda over the years.
The DOH was required to present proposals on how to improve the flaws within two months.
In related developments, the Control Yuan meeting yesterday also issued a corrective measure against Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電公司) for failing to conduct a thorough examination of the starting transformer at the Third Nuclear Power Plant, which caused a short circuit and fire in the switch room.
The motion proposed by Control Yuan member Chao Jung-yao (趙榮耀) accused Taipower of failing to remove rust thoroughly from the transformer so that the metal was eaten away.
Taipower was also found to have failed to deal adequately with the fire in accordance with standard operation procedure as its maintenance personnel did not cut off the power supply that would have prevented the fire when they heard unusual sounds, and afterwards, did not immediately call a fire brigade or inform the Atomic Energy Council.
It also failed to explain the incident to the public after it happened, the Control Yuan said.
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