Health authorities yesterday said they had begun an investigation following media reports that Japanese home furnishing retail chain Francfranc’s distributor intentionally replaced labeling on expired products to pass them off as new.
The Department of Health (DOH) started the probe following local media reports yesterday that two former employees of Francfranc — which currently has four stores across Taiwan — said the company’s distributor, Collins Group of Companies, instructed employees to peel off product labeling on hundreds of expired skincare products.
Collins then allegedly told employees to stick on new labels that falsely indicated the products were manufactured in March last year and sold them at a 50 percent discount to the regular retail price, the former employees said.
After customers complained that the products smelled odd and had a different color to those they had purchased in the past, however, suspicious Francfranc employees made enquires to the manufacturer. They were told the products that customers had complained about were manufactured in November 2006.
The DOH yesterday said it had instructed local health bureaus to immediately open an investigation into the matter. If the allegations prove to be true, Collins could face fines of up to NT$100,000, in addition to being ordered to conduct product recalls.
Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁), chairman of the Consumers’ Foundation, yesterday criticized the company for chasing profits by risking consumers’ health and safety.
Hsieh urged affected consumers to report incidents to the foundation and urged prosecutors to investigate the matter to determine whether the company could be held criminally liable.
In response, Ko Huai-po (柯懷博), a brand manager at Collins, said the product labels were replaced because the old labels were worn out.
Because Francfranc’s Japanese headquarters had not provided information as to when the skincare products in question were manufactured, the company assumed that the manufactured date was three months before the products were shipped, he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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