Taiwanese officials accused of hiding toxic rice noodle contamination for seven weeks

Hsinchu City's Nongken brand rice noodles have been found to contain toxic formaldehyde, a substance not permitted for addition. The Tainan City government discovered the contamination in late May and reported it to the Hsinchu City Health Bureau. However, Mayor Kao Hung-an's administration allegedly delayed public disclosure of the information for seven weeks, only announcing it on July 18. This delay has drawn accusations of concealment and a lack of transparency. The city government only convened an inter-departmental food safety response meeting after the public announcement. It is feared that nearly 4,000 packs of the contaminated rice noodles may have already been consumed by the public. Local politician Chien Kang-ming has alleged that the Nongken brand rice noodles were among gifts distributed by Kao Hung-an's city government. He questioned whether the relationship between the vendor and the mayor's office influenced the delayed response and lenient treatment. Chien urged for the release of testing data and for legal action against the involved parties if the formaldehyde was intentionally added. He stressed that personal connections or political donations should not compromise product quality and that the city's image is at risk due to such associations.

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The Nongken brand rice noodles are one of the gifts given by the Hsinchu City government to outsiders.