The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a second-circuit verdict that sentenced Taiwan First Co managing director Chen Hsing-you (陳星佑) and associate director Chen Ching-ju (陳鏡如) to two-and-a-half years and two years in prison respectively for breaches of the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法).
Earnings from the firm, primarily through its Taiwan First Fried Chicken (台灣第一家鹽酥雞) subsidiary, totaling NT$115.9 million (US$3.7 million), have been confiscated, the Supreme Court said.
The nation’s top court upheld the earlier ruling, saying that only the proper authorities are allowed to provide or approve food-grade additives, while industrial-grade products are “not for human consumption.”
Chen Hsing-you, in charge of the company’s signature salt-and-pepper mix, in 2007 began using magnesium carbonate to prevent clumping due to moisture, the Supreme Court said in its verdict.
Chen Hsing-you used industrial-grade magnesium carbonate, as it was cheaper, at NT$50 per kilogram, than food-grade magnesium carbonate at NT$220 per kilogram, it said.
The New Taipei City Department of Health in 2015 launched an investigation into the company and analyses of the powder mix revealed 7 parts per million (ppm) of residual arsenic, it said.
The amount was well over the legal standard of 4ppm and posed liver and kidney risks if ingested continuously over a long period, the verdict said.
Taiwan First’s founder, Chen Ting-chih (陳廷智), was not involved, as he handed the company over to Chen Hsing-you and Chen Ching-ju in 2001, it said.
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