Carcinogenic oil's first-tier products removed; Yunlin to probe school lunches, senior centers

A soybean salad oil produced by Zhonglian Grease has been found to contain the carcinogen benzo(a)pyrene, with 1,300 tons of the product reportedly distributed to major manufacturers like Taishan, Fwusow, and Fwumao. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has indicated that recalling only the first-tier products is sufficient to mitigate risks.

However, Yunlin County Magistrate Chang Li-shan expressed a firm stance on food safety, stating, "Food safety has no room for compromise." While confirming that no schools in the county used the affected batch of oil for cooking, she pledged to continue investigating school lunch programs and senior centers to ensure no such oil is present. The county has already inspected over 14 businesses and removed more than 215 bottles of oil.

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Food safety has no room for compromise.

Despite the central government not extending the recall to second-tier processed foods, Yunlin County aims for a more stringent approach to prevent food safety risks. Chang emphasized that regardless of the product tier, strict prohibitions will be enforced for school lunches and community senior centers. The county's health bureau will continue to inspect high-risk venues and urges food and processing businesses to implement self-management, proactively recalling any products deemed risky to protect consumer rights.

Meanwhile, legislator Chang Chia-chun criticized the FDA for its initial lack of transparency, stating that the agency should have fully disclosed the oil's distribution, affected products, and testing reports immediately. She argued that withholding information only fuels public suspicion and called for a review of the central government's management of edible oil sources, inspection frequency, traceability systems, and information disclosure mechanisms to prevent similar food safety incidents.

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The FDA, as the food safety watchdog, should have fully disclosed the problem oil's flow, affected products, and related inspection reports from the outset. The FDA's choice to 'cover up' is completely unacceptable.