Can contaminated oil products be relisted after passing just one test? Taoyuan Deputy Mayor Su Chun-pin urges Executive Yuan: Relisting must undergo strict review of multiple indicators

The Executive Yuan discussed a draft amendment to the Food Safety Act, strengthening regulations across five key areas: source management, process control, anomaly reporting, quality assurance, and digital governance. Taoyuan Deputy Mayor Su Chun-pin issued a warning, citing the case of Zhonglian increasing its allowable soybean heat damage rate from 0.5% to 5%—a tenfold increase—that led to超标 levels of benzopyrene (BaP). He stressed that Article 42 of the Food Safety Act, which governs the relisting of recalled products, should not permit relisting based solely on a single retest passing.

Su pointed out that the超标 of benzopyrene (BaP), a carcinogen, in recent contaminated oil products is merely the final 'effect,' with the root cause being manufacturers relaxing soybean acceptance standards at the source, thereby compromising raw material quality from the outset. For risk assessment of relisting problematic oil products, it is insufficient to merely retest the single超标 item. Instead, other indicators—including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), mycotoxins, heavy metals, acid value, and peroxide value—should be included in the evaluation to assess oil degradation and overall safety.

Regarding Article 42 of the draft Food Safety Act amendment, which regulates the removal and disposal of unsafe products, Su emphasized that the超标 of BaP in contaminated oil is just the final 'effect.' According to investigations by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the underlying 'cause' behind these products likely stems from manufacturers relaxing soybean acceptance criteria as early as last year, meaning raw material quality was already questionable. The definition of 'cause eliminated' under the revised Article 42 must be strictly reviewed—not merely accepting a single retest of the original超标 item as sufficient. Authorities must reconfirm and trace the potential hazards arising from the root cause, examining multiple risk factors together for a more appropriate assessment. Only after fully satisfying all hazard-related testing requirements should relisting be approved, to prevent repeated product failures from eroding public trust in the government.

Additionally, Su urged the central government to act immediately, 'without waiting for legal amendments.' He called for central and local governments to swiftly establish third-party testing and real-time reporting mechanisms, and to complete a food safety information disclosure and data integration platform. This would enable the earliest possible prevention of problematic products entering the market.

The current Food Safety Act amendment covers five core dimensions: source management, process management, anomaly reporting, quality management, and digital governance. The public's greatest concern is the threshold that recalled oil products must meet to be relisted. According to the Executive Yuan’s latest directive, the relisting review mechanism will completely move away from the outdated 'pass one test, relist' mindset. Moving forward, competent authorities such as the Ministry of Health and Welfare will strictly implement comprehensive hazard risk assessments. Through precise revisions to Article 42 of the Food Safety Act, combined with a digital data integration platform built by central and local governments, not only will anomaly reporting become more timely, but every drop of cooking oil in the consumer market will have full traceability and authoritative safety certification.

In response, Executive Yuan Premier Cho Jung-tai clearly stated that before any oil product can be relisted, it must be ensured that there are absolutely no safety concerns. All relevant factors must be considered to deliberate the most appropriate course of action.