Taiwan Sugar Failed to Report Contaminated Oil from Chung Lian! FDA Clarifies Food Safety Act: No Reporting Obligation for Non-Products

In May, Taiwan Sugar detected benzopyrene超标 in crude oil purchased from Chung Lian, yet failed to report the incident until now. Despite this delay, both central and local governments have determined that Taiwan Sugar did not violate the Food Safety Act. On the 3rd, Deputy Director Wang Teh-yuan of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated that for Taiwan Sugar, this batch of crude oil was classified as 'raw material' rather than 'food product.' According to Article 7, Paragraph 5 of the Food Safety Act, businesses must report to local authorities if they discover hazards in their products. However, investigations by health bureaus in Tainan and Kaohsiung—where Taiwan Sugar’s facilities and headquarters are located—concluded that Taiwan Sugar did not breach its self-reporting obligations. The central government stated it respects these local determinations.

Wang emphasized a key point: Taiwan Sugar never signed for or accepted delivery of the benzopyrene-contaminated crude oil. In contrast, when Nan Chiao discovered超标 oil from Fu Shou, the oil had already entered their production line and been processed into finished goods, thus triggering a legal obligation to report. Nan Chiao failed to do so and was fined NT$3 million. In Taiwan Sugar’s case, the crude oil from Chung Lian did not meet the quality standards stipulated in their contract, so it was returned and never signed for. Therefore, Taiwan Sugar bears no reporting responsibility.

However, once the crude oil returned to Chung Lian, its status changed. For Chung Lian, a refining plant, the raw material is soybeans; the crude oil is an intermediate product already within the salad oil production process. Thus, upon learning their manufactured product posed a carcinogenic risk, Chung Lian had a legal duty to proactively report it. In summary, for Taiwan Sugar, the batch was raw material, not a product, and since it was not accepted, no reporting was required. For Chung Lian, it was a product, already in the production line, and thus subject to mandatory reporting.

Wang interpreted Article 7, Paragraph 5 of the Food Safety Act: 'When food businesses discover their products may endanger health and safety...' This refers specifically to products they themselves manufacture. Applying this to Taiwan Sugar, the crude oil was not their manufactured product, so no reporting obligation arose. As for whether corporate responsibility should compel reporting regardless of legal technicalities, that falls under local government investigation, as reporting must be made to municipal or county authorities.

It is understood that both Kaohsiung and Tainan city governments maintain a consistent stance: Taiwan Sugar did not violate Article 7, Paragraph 5 of the Food Safety Act. In response to media questions about why the same crude oil is considered non-food at Taiwan Sugar but food at Chung Lian, Wang stressed that classification depends on context: 'Under different circumstances, crude oil can indeed be considered food or not.'

Regarding public criticism that the Food Safety Act regulates both 'raw materials' and 'food,' while Article 7, Paragraph 5 refers to 'products,' Wang acknowledged that Article 3 of the Act clearly defines 'food' as including both products and raw materials. However, Article 7, Paragraph 5 specifically applies to food businesses discovering hazards in their own products, requiring them to halt manufacturing, processing, sales, initiate recalls, and report. For Taiwan Sugar, the crude oil was raw material, not a product, and never entered the production line—thus, no reporting obligation existed.

Additional exclusive reports from Storm Media: · Taiwan Sugar’s contaminated oil exempt from reporting as semi-finished product? KMT legislator cites 'Sudan Red' case documents to challenge Lin Ching-i: Double standards in protection · No obligation for Taiwan Sugar to report toxic oil? Writer exposes MOHW’s 'responsibility-shifting tactic': Even amending the Food Safety Act won’t enable penalties · Did Taiwan Sugar need to report the returned crude oil from Chung Lian? Shih Chou-liang stresses 'no reporting duty for raw materials': Inspection standards were self-determined by Taiwan Sugar