Toxic Oil Scandal Expands: Lawmaker Demands Public Timeline, Flow Chart

Taiwan's food safety authorities have confirmed that 29 batches of toxic oil from the company Zhonglian, produced between April and June, were supplied to three major food manufacturers: Fwusow, Fwumao, and Tai Shan. The total amount of contaminated oil is approximately 27,532.7 metric tons, which was used to produce 49 different products. These products have since been voluntarily removed from shelves as a precautionary measure.

“

The truly responsible companies for food safety are those that pay for their own testing.

Legislator Wu Tsung-hsien of the Kuomintang party strongly criticized the government's handling of the incident, particularly its delayed response and what he described as selective public disclosure. He argued that the government's actions were a major mistake, effectively denying the public their right to know.

“

The government's delayed response, slow action, and selective disclosure after receiving the report are the biggest mistakes.

Wu pointed out that the issue began when Nanqiao voluntarily tested its products in April, revealing excessive levels of BaP (a carcinogen) in May. The government was only notified later, and the contamination was confirmed by Zhonglian on June 29. Wu stated that the delay between the initial detection of abnormalities and the government's official notification was about a month and a half, during which consumers remained unaware.

“

The continuous exceeding of standards in three different batches is not accidental. It indicates significant deficiencies in raw material acceptance, process management, and quality control mechanisms.

He further demanded that Premier Cho Jung-tai appear before the Legislative Yuan next Tuesday to publicly present a complete timeline of the incident and a detailed flow chart illustrating the distribution of the 27,500 tons of toxic oil. Wu also proposed three systemic reforms: mandatory reporting deadlines with heavy penalties for violations, a mandatory interconnected supply chain system, and revisions to the Food Cloud system for real-time data uploads and cross-verification by businesses.

“

We demand that Premier Cho Jung-tai fully disclose the timeline of the delayed reporting and the complete flow chart of the 27,500 tons of toxic oil next Tuesday at the Legislative Yuan, and make concrete commitments to legislative and administrative revisions.