Central Oil Contamination Scandal Prompts Call for Faster School Lunch Legislation

(CNA) - Taipei, July 9 - The contamination of Central Oil products with carcinogens has drawn widespread attention. The National Alliance for Education (NAE) stated today that while the school food ingredient registration platform is useful, related systems also need to be comprehensive. The NAE urged the Legislative Yuan to expedite the completion of a special law for school lunches, incorporating transparency, oversight, and stable funding for school meals into the legislation.

The contamination of Central Oil products with the carcinogen benzo(a)pyrene has raised food safety concerns. According to the Ministry of Education's latest investigation statistics released last night, a total of 20 counties and cities, 623 schools, and 258 kindergartens are suspected of having used the affected products. They have all been instructed to immediately cease use and take precautionary measures to remove the products from shelves, ensuring student safety.

The National Alliance for Education issued a press release today, pointing out that this incident demonstrates the school food ingredient registration platform's practical traceability function, which can identify potential issues at the school level in a short period. However, if related mechanisms remain administrative measures, information disclosure, notification speed, suspension of use and sealing, staffing, and financial responsibilities may still vary by county and city.

The NAE reminds the public that the usefulness of the school food ingredient registration platform does not mean the system is complete. What schools need is a nationwide, legally binding obligation, including the completeness of ingredient registration data, the suspension of use and sealing of problematic products, public disclosure of affected schools and suppliers, and subsequent inspections and accountability reporting. If these systems rely solely on administrative requirements, future food safety incidents may still result in inconsistent county and city standards, information gaps, and difficulties for parents to stay informed in a timely manner.

To address the systemic gaps at the school level, the NAE calls on the Legislative Yuan to seize the opportunity of the 11th Legislative Yuan's 5th session to accelerate the completion of a special law for school lunches. This law should incorporate transparency, oversight, nutrition education, and stable funding for school meals. The special law should establish a system that allows for traceability during normal times, immediate public disclosure during incidents, and accountability checks for responsible parties, transforming school food safety from mere crisis management into daily governance.

The NAE has put forth three demands: to legislate information disclosure and supervision, to legislate school-level oversight and dedicated personnel, and to legislate financial responsibility and reasonable price adjustments. The Executive Yuan should promptly propose an executive version or a clear administrative stance, particularly regarding central government financial responsibilities and inter-ministerial division of labor. The Legislative Yuan's Education and Culture Committee should continue to review the bill clause by clause and schedule it for subsequent negotiations. (Editor: Kuan Chung-wei) 1150709

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