Chung Lien Soybean Salad Oil Benzopyrene Exceeds Standard; Taipei City Orders Full Suspension and Removal

(Central News Agency, Taipei, July 2) Regarding the carcinogenic benzopyrene exceeding the standard in Chung Lien's "Soybean Salad Oil," the Taipei City Government announced today that it has ordered all channels to suspend use and remove the product preemptively based on the central government's announced problematic items. The city is also expanding inspections across bureaus and coordinating with the Taichung City Government and businesses to trace the flow of the product.

Regarding the case of carcinogenic substances exceeding the standard in Chung Lien's "Soybean Salad Oil," the relevant problematic oil has flowed to businesses such as Fwusow Industry Co., Ltd., Fwumoil Enterprise Co., Ltd., and President Enterprise Corporation. The Taipei City Department of Health explained that personnel were dispatched to major hypermarkets, hotels, and restaurants in Taipei City this morning to verify and require businesses to remove all problematic oil items.

The Department of Health stated that personnel simultaneously visited Fwumoil's Taipei branch and Namchow Group to investigate all flow receipts and inquired with the Taichung Food Safety Office about the flow of this batch of problematic oil. Oil businesses have been required to fully explain production batch numbers and flow, and to submit complete destruction plans and records.

The Department of Health also stated that it has launched a "Cooking Oil Inspection Project" to expand random inspections and testing of commercially available cooking oils beyond the problematic items to ensure food safety.

Regarding food safety in schools, the Department of Education stated that it has activated an emergency response mechanism, ordering all schools and group meal providers to completely suspend the use and seal problematic cooking oil, and to preemptively suspend the use of oil products from the relevant brands starting today, and to investigate existing oil inventory.

The Department of Education also stated that due to the "no batch field" in the Ministry of Education's ingredient registration platform, the Department of Education is investigating school by school and has initially identified 22 schools that used products from the relevant announced batch numbers in early May. Schools have been instructed to notify parents, and the Department of Education will cooperate with the Department of Health in the coming days to promote a special inspection of preemptive suspension of cooking oil use by schools and group meal providers.

The Market Division stated that it has required all public markets and vendor concentration sites to thoroughly investigate the use of problematic cooking oil and to notify vendors through market self-governing associations and site management organizations to completely suspend the use and replace oil products of the brands involved in this incident, and to post information on prominent locations on vendor stalls and shelves revealing the brands of cooking oil used.

The Legal Affairs Department urged that in addition to President Enterprise Corporation's announcement of a refund statement, other affected businesses should also promptly announce their refund schedules, single contact points, and required documents. It also requires businesses to proactively coordinate with major channels so that consumers can return or exchange goods at the original point of purchase with proof of purchase, and to propose compensation plans.

The Consumer Protection Officer also reminded the public to immediately check the cooking oil at home, suspend the use of suspicious products, and retain purchase records, invoices, and problematic products to facilitate refunds or claims. If experiencing physical discomfort, seek medical attention promptly and retain medical receipts.

The Department of Health added that the carcinogen benzopyrene in this case is a type of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), which originates from the food processing process or environmental pollution. If businesses discover that a product poses a risk to hygiene and safety, they should immediately stop selling and initiate a recall, and report to the Department of Health. Failure to report as required will result in a fine of not less than NT$30,000 and not more than NT$3,000,000 in accordance with the Food Safety Act. (Editor: Chang Ming-kun) 1150702

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