Food and Drug Administration clarifies timeline of oil contamination incident

Taipei, July 6 (CNA) The oil contamination case continues to unfold, with external parties questioning whether the company Zhonglian concealed the issue for three months. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Chiang Tze-hsiang clarified that the second-tier downstream company Nanqiao did not report abnormalities in April, stating that such claims are "misinformation and not precise." The problematic oil was only produced in April, and Nanqiao reported the issue in June.

Zhonglian's "soybean salad oil" was found to exceed the limit for the carcinogen benzo(a)pyrene, with a total of 1,300 metric tons flowing to companies including Taishan, Fwusow, and Fwumao. Chiang Tze-hsiang held a press conference today to explain the complete timeline of receiving the report from Zhonglian Oils. He stated that the batch of oil found to exceed the benzo(a)pyrene limit was produced in April, and therefore, it is absolutely untrue that Nanqiao discovered abnormalities in this batch of oil in April.

"Misinformation and not precise," Chiang Tze-hsiang said. Nanqiao voluntarily tested this batch of oil in May and found that the carcinogen benzo(a)pyrene exceeded the limit. On June 10, they notified the first-tier downstream company Fwusow of the abnormality. Fwusow notified Zhonglian on June 11. Zhonglian submitted samples for testing on June 16 and 25, and the report on June 29 confirmed the abnormality. Zhonglian then notified the FDA on June 30.

On July 1, the FDA announced the affected products from three midstream companies, Fwumao, Fwusow, and Taishan, and 15 affected products. They announced the recall of the original oil and other first-tier products. The list of other downstream flows and affected products was not immediately disclosed to the public. Three days later, an expert meeting was held to decide to expand the scope of precautionary recalls to include second-tier products, which are processed products containing 20% or more of the affected soybean salad oil.

The FDA has requested that companies complete the precautionary recall by midnight tonight. For products not subject to precautionary recall, if they are made with the affected soybean salad oil and contain less than 20% of it, they are not required to be recalled. However, companies must still voluntarily disclose this information by midnight tonight. The FDA has set up a special section on its official website for the Zhonglian Oils case, which will be updated daily at 2 p.m. with the latest handling status.

Chiang Tze-hsiang said that local health bureaus have been asked to actively investigate and clarify whether there were any delays in reporting. The procedures for reporting abnormal incidents have been clearly established. Local health bureaus are actively investigating and clarifying responsibilities. If it is confirmed that there were delays in reporting, penalties will be imposed in accordance with the law.

The oil in Zhonglian's tanks will not be shipped for the time being. Chiang Tze-hsiang said that all oil produced in April this year will be re-examined. A total of 30 samples were retained at the time, and this re-examination is intended to confirm the product's condition again. The testing is currently ongoing and is expected to produce preliminary results by this Friday. The results will be announced to the public as soon as possible. (Editor: Chang Ming-kun) 1150706

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