Third-Party Investigation Results on Toxic Oil Food Safety Scandal Released! Three Major Failures at Chung Lian Oils and Raw Material Control Loopholes Fully Exposed

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today (27) released the third-party independent investigation results regarding the Chung Lian Oils incident, concluding that the case was caused by the interplay of multiple management failures in high-risk raw material management, production process control, and inspection monitoring. The Executive Yuan has already approved partial amendments to the Food Safety and Sanitation Act and submitted the draft bill to the Legislative Yuan for review. The future focus will center on five key areas—source management, process management, anomaly reporting, quality management, and digital governance—to comprehensively strengthen food safety early warning capabilities and inspection mechanisms.

In a press conference held this afternoon, Executive Yuan Minister without Portfolio Chen Shih-Chung announced the findings of the third-party independent investigation. After verification and comprehensive analysis, the investigation concluded that the incident was not caused by a single factor, but rather by the combined impact of multiple management deficiencies. The investigation revealed that soybean oil produced from certain Brazilian-imported soybeans was more likely to contain benzopyrene, and there were quality variations across different shipment batches. However, the company failed to strengthen management or increase inspection frequency for these high-risk raw materials, thereby increasing the risk of contamination exceeding safety standards.

Regarding production process control, while no direct evidence was found that the existing equipment generated benzopyrene, the company did not promptly implement corrective or improvement measures when multiple process parameters exceeded quality control limits. Additionally, it failed to establish risk-responsive process adjustment strategies. Furthermore, the company did not fully identify or assess benzopyrene-related chemical hazards within its food safety management system and even relaxed quality control standards for high-risk raw materials, failing to implement an effective overall risk management framework.

To prevent similar incidents from recurring, the investigation team recommended that the company comprehensively strengthen raw material risk management, production process monitoring, and inspection and surveillance systems. Moreover, on July 23, the Executive Yuan approved partial amendments to the Food Safety and Sanitation Act and submitted the draft to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation. The legislative revisions focus on five key directions: source management, process management, anomaly reporting, quality management, and digital governance, aiming to enhance food safety monitoring programs and verification management mechanisms.

The FDA emphasized that it will continue to refine the food safety management system based on the third-party investigation recommendations. Through legislative reforms, it aims to strictly control source and process quality, comprehensively improve food safety risk management effectiveness, and ensure public food safety and consumer rights.