Tue, Aug 25, 2026 page3

• Survey shows attitudes on oil scandal

  • By Rachel Lin / Staff reporter
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  A public survey on food safety related to the Central Union Oil Corp (CUOC) soybean oil scandal released yesterday showed that 61 percent of the respondents have no confidence in the government’s food safety inspection mechanism and 63 percent are against allowing sales of processed food products containing less than 20 percent of CUOC’s problem oil.

  CUOC, which was jointly established by Taisun Enterprise Co (泰山企業), Fwusow Industry Co (福壽實業) and Formosa Oilseed Processing Co (福懋油脂), was ultimately found to have seven noncompliant batches of soybean oil; the first was reported to regulators on June 30.

  Yen Yung-shen (顏永森), the Grassroots Influence Foundation’s convenor of polling, said the foundation commissioned TVBS Poll Center to conduct a computer-assisted telephone interviewing survey from Aug. 7 to 13.

  

  A person looks at oil products at a supermarket in Taipei in an undated photograph.

  Photo: CNA

  It collected a total of 1,147 responses from people aged 18 or older, with a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points, Yen said.

  The survey showed 69 percent of the respondents were worried that they would consume the benzopyrene-tainted cooking oil when eating out, while 26 percent were not concerned.

  Fifty-two percent of respondents said they were unsatisfied with the government’s response speed in conducting inspections, seizures and removal of products, while 29 percent were satisfied; and 63 percent were against allowing sales of oil products containing less than 20 percent of CUOC’s problem oil, while 21 percent supported the policy, the survey showed.

  Regarding the government’s food safety management ability, 61 percent of the respondents have no confidence in the inspection mechanism, while 30 percent were confident; and 54 percent were unsatisfied with the government’s handling of the scandal, while 33 percent were satisfied.

  Asked if they agree that heavy penalties and fines should be imposed on CUOC and its responsible managers, 87 percent of the respondents agreed, while only 4 percent disagreed.

  The survey also showed that 43 percent of the respondents did not think Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) needs to resign over this scandal, while 41 percent thought he should, and 16 percent had no opinion.

  The survey showed that people’s attitudes toward food safety do not entirely align with their political party affiliation, Former Health Promotion Administration director-general Chiou Shu-ti (邱淑媞) said.

  “Even for people with obvious political stances, their body is honest,” she said, adding that even supporters of the ruling party were concerned about the possibility of consuming contaminated oil, showing that food safety is a livelihood issue transcending political lines.

  The survey shows that about 70 percent of people are concerned about consuming contaminated oil when eating out — an anxiety shared across political parties, National Taipei University Department of Public Administration and Policy professor Liu Jia-wei (劉嘉薇) said.

  Meanwhile, 63 percent do not support allowing oil products containing less than 20 percent of the tainted oil on store shelves, indicating that food safety concerns have not subsided following the incident, so the government should re-evaluate its decisions, she said.

  The poll showed that 73 percent agree with a “zero-detection” policy for carcinogens, so the government should adopt the strictest standards for carcinogens in food products to alleviate public concerns at the source, the foundation said.

  While 87 percent agreed that the companies and responsible people should face severe penalties, it also suggested the government should uphold the principle of strict enforcement, conduct speedy trials, and impose heavy penalties to deter companies not reporting abnormalities, and restoring public trust in food safety and the rule of law, it said.
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