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Appalling! Chung Lien Oil Again Exposed for Hiding Contaminated Salad Oil; FDA Fines Another NT$3 Million

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • Taiwanese authorities fined oil company Chung Lien Oil (中聯油) an additional NT$3 million for concealing information about contaminated cooking oil.
  • The company had previously been fined NT$165.2 million for similar issues and for allegedly falsifying test samples.
  • The latest penalty stems from the discovery of an undeclared batch of oil produced in April, which was found to contain excessive levels of benzopyrene.

Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has imposed a new fine of NT$3 million on oil producer Chung Lien Oil (中聯油) for concealing information about contaminated cooking oil. This latest penalty follows a massive NT$165.2 million fine previously levied against the company for similar violations and suspicions of falsifying test results.

The ongoing scandal involves soybean salad oil produced by Chung Lien Oil between April and June. While the company initially reported 29 batches, authorities later discovered that five batches had tested positive for excessive levels of benzopyrene, a carcinogenic compound. The company's credibility was further damaged by inconsistencies between its own sample test results and those obtained by downstream clients, leading the FDA to doubt the integrity of Chung Lien Oil's data.

The FDA will continue to investigate the flow and recall of this batch of products. If concealment, omission, or other illegal evidence is found, we will continue to hold them strictly accountable according to the law, and the FDA will definitely 'catch them and fine them once'.

— Wang Te-yuanThe FDA Deputy Director-General's statement on continued investigation and enforcement.

The most recent fine was issued after health authorities in Yilan County identified oil from an undeclared batch, produced on April 1, within products that were supposed to be part of a precautionary recall. This indicated that Chung Lien Oil had failed to report all relevant production information to the FDA, adding to the list of violations.

FDA Deputy Director-General Wang Te-yuan stated that the agency is continuing to investigate the distribution and recall status of the undeclared batch. He emphasized that the FDA will strictly enforce regulations, imposing penalties for each instance of concealment or failure to report. Furthermore, national laboratories are continuing to test other oil samples, with preliminary results showing benzopyrene exceeding limits in oil produced by Chung Lien Oil on April 8 and April 13.

The FDA will continue to test other samples, hoping to complete the testing of 52 retained samples within a week.

— Wang Te-yuanThe FDA Deputy Director-General's update on ongoing laboratory testing.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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