Carcinogenic Oil Culprit Found? Zhonglian Relaxed Soybean Standards by '10 Times' — Shih Chong-liang: 'Production Process Was Not Properly Controlled'

Benzopyrene, a carcinogenic substance, was detected in Zhonglian Oil's soybean salad oil, but the company concealed the findings and allowed the product to flow to downstream suppliers across Taiwan. To investigate the cause of the carcinogen contamination, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) under the Ministry of Health and Welfare has established a special investigation team. On the 21st, Minister Shih Chong-liang held a press conference, revealing that last year, Zhonglian Oil increased the acceptable 'thermal damage rate' standard for soybean raw materials from 0.5% to 5%—a tenfold relaxation—and further failed to properly implement process controls during oil production.

Shih emphasized that while both the relaxed raw material standards and inadequate process management indicate serious issues from raw materials to production, whether these two factors directly caused the benzopyrene超标 still requires expert confirmation. This is the preliminary finding after the investigation team conducted searches and held multiple expert meetings.

TFDA Director General Chiang Chih-kang explained that the 'thermal damage rate' refers to the degree of charring and quality degradation in soybeans caused by high-temperature exposure, which can be simply understood as 'burnt soybeans.' Zhonglian originally accepted soybeans with a thermal damage rate of no more than 0.5%—meaning only up to five out of every 1,000 soybeans could be damaged. However, last year, the company relaxed this standard to 5%.

Chiang noted that oil extracted from soybeans with higher thermal damage rates tends to have higher benzopyrene concentrations, suggesting that raw material quality may be one of the contributing factors, though further verification is still needed.

Shih also expressed gratitude to other edible oil manufacturers, including Taisugar and Dachun Yi, for continuously supplying oil and stabilizing the market during this period. He also thanked public health officials in Tainan and Kaohsiung for their active inspections, ensuring the safety of oil supplies and intensifying audits to prevent excessive market disruption.