Food Safety Is National Security: Lu Hsiu-yen Announces Upcoming 'Online National Conference' with County and City Mayors to Combat Toxic Oil

The toxic oil scandal has triggered a nationwide food safety crisis. Faced with the central government's disorganized crisis response and inconsistent decision-making, local leaders have decided to take action. On the 19th, Taichung Mayor Lu Hsiu-yen announced she will proactively convene an 'Online National Conference of County and City Mayors Against Toxic Oil' next week, collaborating with Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, Yunlin County Magistrate Chang Li-shan, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang, and other local leaders to establish a joint defense mechanism. 'If the central government won’t act, local governments will lead the way,' they declared, uniting to formulate food safety strategies, amplify local voices to the central authority, and fully protect public health.

Mayor Lu emphasized that 'food safety is national security.' Since the toxic oil incident broke out, the central government has failed to clarify the source or truth of the contaminated oil to the public. Meanwhile, local governments have shouldered the vast majority of frontline responsibilities—including comprehensive inspections, mass testing, cross-county notifications, and issuing penalties—only to face repeated political attacks from the central government. Next week, the mayors will follow the model used during past U.S. tariff negotiations, finding the 'greatest common denominator' in scheduling to hold an online national conference. The goal is to pool grassroots insights and concrete solutions, strongly urging the central government to adopt local practices so that all citizens can eat with peace of mind, no longer living in fear over food safety.

Local mayors have also voiced strong recommendations regarding the central government’s approach. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an criticized that after more than three weeks, the central authorities still haven’t identified the cause and have instead engaged in cover-ups and protectionism. He expressed gratitude to the Taichung City Government for quickly identifying the product distribution chain and notifying Taipei, enabling swift preventive removals from shelves. He pledged that counties and cities will actively push for legislative reforms to strengthen source management and real-time reporting.

Yunlin County Magistrate Chang Li-shan stated that the central government telling people to 'choose what they eat themselves' is a serious failure of duty. To prevent more toxic oil from entering citizens’ bodies, she plans to speak out loudly on Ketagalan Boulevard. Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang strongly opposed the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s suggestion that people 'eat less fried food,' emphasizing that providing safe cooking oil is the government’s responsibility.

'Local leaders are uniting against toxic oil, forming a cross-county last line of defense for public health!' Lu and other mayors unanimously stressed that food safety is a non-negotiable national底线. Despite immense pressure and challenges, their determination to defend food safety will not waver. Moving forward, they will pursue both the online national conference and legislative reforms to compel the central government to fully disclose information, take responsibility, and completely eliminate carcinogenic toxic oil from people’s dining tables—restoring truth and peace of mind to the public.