Health authorities yesterday ordered a recall of three brands of eggs from Yi Jin King Co (義進金公司) amid a judicial probe into allegations the firm’s eggs contained excessive levels of nicarbazin and labels had been fraudulently altered.
The Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office in Kaohsiung summoned company owner Su Wen-yuan (蘇文源) and two of his siblings who are company executives for questioning, and prosecutors said they plan to indict the three for forgery of documents, fraud and contravening the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法).
The three were released on bail, which ranged from NT$300,000 to NT$500,000.
Photo: CNA
The case stems from inspections over the summer that turned up fraudulent labeling and changed expiration dates, and test results showed nicarbazin residue at 0.05 parts per million (PPM) in the company’s eggs.
Nicarbazin is a urea derivative that is added to poultry feed to combat protozoan parasite. Taiwan does not allow any nicarbazin residue in eggs, although some is permitted in poultry meat.
Supermarket chains, including Pxmart, grocery stores, bakeries and luxury hotels, were among those that had to pull King I Eggs (金愛蛋), Li Yo Eggs (力優蛋) and King Eggs (金雞蛋機能卵) from shelves and storerooms following the order.
Yi Jin King is one of the five largest egg suppliers in the nation, and its products carry the Certified Agricultural Standards (CAS) logo, indicating they have passed health inspections.
The prosecutors’ office said an inspection test in July of eggs sold at a Pxmart in Chiayi County found 0.05ppm of nicarbazin in the eggs, and authorities ordered a product recall, but the Chiayi County Health Bureau did not publicly announce the recall as the company’s farms were located elsewhere.
Prosecutors later received tips from employees that top executives had told them to repackage the recalled eggs and give them new expiration dates, and distribute them to supermarkets and other clients.
They also alleged that recalled eggs were mixed into liquid egg products that were supplied to hotels, bakeries and restaurants.
“All our egg products have passed health inspection and testing, so there is no problem with them. We absolutely would not do things against our good conscience,” Su told reporters yesterday.
He did not know why the eggs had tested positive for nicarbazin residue, as the firm’s internal testing of the recalled eggs did not show it, he said.
He said that he believed the eggs could have been contaminated during transport as the trucks used by the firm also carried poultry feed.
Some former employees were trying to get revenge by making false accusations to destroy the company’s reputation, as they had tried to organize a strike in a bid to take over the firm, he said.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS