Talking about Taiwan food scandal, we are referring to a new series of food safety scandal and incidents in Taiwan that came to light and exposed.
2014
As I read about the incident on online news, Taiwan was rocked by the news of adulteration of cooking oil with recycled waste oil and animal feed oil was discovered.
Recycled waste oil:
As i read more the latest series of incidents first came to light on September 4, 2014, when it was discovered that tainted cooking oil was being produced by Kaohsiung-based company.The company was found to have blended cooking oil with recycled oil, grease and leather cleaner. The recycled oil was processed by an unlicensed factory in Pingtung County. Kaohsiung-based company purchased up to 243 tonnes of recycled waste oil disguised as lard from the unlicensed Pingtung factory, starting in February 2014. The company then allegedly refined the waste oil (collected from restaurants, cookers, fryers, grease traps and included discarded animal parts, fat and skin) before mixing it with processed lard and selling the tainted product to its distributors.The scandal has also spread to Hong Kong. Reports said the city’s biggest bakery chain, Maxim’s Cakes, as well as branches of 7-Eleven and Starbucks, may have been selling pastries made with the oil. I also read that hundreds of items including dumplings, mooncakes and pineapple buns have already been removed from sale.
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| recycled cooking oil may have been used in pastries sold by popular bakery chain |
Animal feed oil:
More research on my part led to the discovery that so far on September 11 reports revealed that in 2014, this Kaohsiung-based company had also imported 87.72 tonnes of lard oil falsely listed for human consumption from Hong Kong-based Globalway Corp Ltd. (金寶運貿易) that were actually meant for animal use only. Since 2008, Kaohsiung-based company had imported 56 batches of lard oil weighing 2,385.1 tonnes from Hong Kong, about 300 tonnes of which were purchased from Globalway Corp between 2011 and 2014. The Taiwan Food Good Manufacturing Practice Development Association (TFGMPDA) reported that the cooking oil produced by Kaohsiung-based company has never been awarded GMP certification, although the TFGMPDA issued an apology saying that five food companies whose products have won GMP certification have used the tainted oil. Schools around Taiwan pulled all of the products containing the tainted oil from their school meals after 16 schools were discovered to be using the adulterated oil products.
On 1 October, prosecutors revealed that after viewing lab results, Kuo Lieh-cheng (owner of unlicensed factory in Pingtung County) admitted that oil he sold to Chang Guann Co.(the Kaohsiung-based company) was mixed with corpse oil, gutter oil, grease and leather cleaner, and recycled oil.
Other Cases of Animal feed oil
a) Prosecutors launched an investigation into a unit of Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際集團) over sale of alleged tainted cooking oil. Prosecutor Tsai Li-yi said Ting Hsin unit Cheng-I Food Co. (正義股份有限公司) is being investigated over allegedly mixing animal feed oil with cooking oil and then selling it for human consumption. Cheng-I Food Co. has an estimated 80 percent share of the lard and lard-based oil market in Taiwan. Wei Ying-chung (魏應充), former chairman of three subsidiaries within Ting Hsin International Group and third of the four Wei brothers controlling the conglomerate, was previously indicted on charges of fraud as part of an investigation into the 2013 Taiwan food scandal. After the revelations, the Taiwan public boycotted Ting Hsin items, with a number of local governments, restaurants, traditional markets and schools refusing to consume the conglomerate's products.
On 17 October, the Changhua District Court granted a request to detain Wei Ying-chung. On October 21, prosecutors said according to Ting Shin's Vietnamese oil supplier Dai Hanh Phuc, the majority of animal feed-grade oil imported by Ting Shin may be used in the China market. In response, consumers in China called for a united boycott against Ting Hsin products.
b) On 3 November, prosecutors in Tainan took Lu Ching-hsieh, owner of Beei Hae Edible Co. and Hsieh Ching Corp. and his wife, Lu Huang Li-hua, into custody on suspicion of manufacturing cooking oil using substandard oil. Prosecutors said Hsieh Ching had bought animal feed-grade beef tallow and vegetable oil from Jin Hong, a trading company, and then allegedly mixed the ingredients together for sale as cooking oil.
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| gutter oil sold as cooking oil in Taiwan |
Industrial Dye
Looking further into the matter, I have read that in November 2014 it was found that dried tofu products (a.k.a. dougan 豆乾) have been adulterated with an industrial dye, methyl yellow (a.k.a. dimethyl), for some 20 years.
In December 2014, it was furthermore found that even regular non-dyed tofu has been found contaminated with carcinogens, resulting in over 25,000 kg recalled.
The dye has been linked to cancer in animals, but currently there is insufficient evidence of a similar effect in humans. Such dyes have escaped Taiwanese periodic food safety checks because looking out for the dye has usually been a low priority. The FDA has ordered any manufacturer that uses the soybean emulsifiers supplied by Chien Hsin (芊鑫實業社) to recall their products
Tofu and seasoning products from Taiwanese manufacturers have been found adulterated in the latest of a string of related scandals beginning in November 2014. The scandal was initially uncovered by Hong Kong authorities regarding the many flavored types of dried preserved tofu, that were recalled for toxic industrial dye methyl yellow contamination, after investigation it was confirmed that this adulteration had been going on undetected for over 20 years. A major supplier to 44 manufacturers, Chien Hsin Enterprises of Tainan city was implicated as the origin. Despite that methyl yellow can often be detected by color (bright yellow), a further scandal erupted in the following days regarding regular tofu (white or oil color if fried). Regular tofu products were also found to be contaminated with a carcinogen. At least 25,760 kg of deliberately contaminated emulsifier for tofu have been traced to the distributor.
In the following days, ramen noodle seasoning packets were also found to be contaminated with methyl yellow, include some popular major ramen manufacturers previously implicated in the prior gutter oil scandals. These products are exported worldwide, including USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Canada, Australia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and China. In Western countries these primarily on shelves of Asian food stores. As of Dec 18, the 73 products (in chinese) have been recalled related to methyl yellow contamination.
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| noodle products affected by recycled oil |
Previously in May 2013, several food products in Taiwan were found to contain starch tainted with maleic acid. Soon after, a food company admitted to mixing soybean oil with cheap cottonseed oil and marketing it as pure soybean oil. Another Taiwan food scandal refering to food safety incidents in Taiwan that began in 2013 and the affected products included cooking oil, health pills, alcoholic beverages, milk and rice.
1)Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co. (Chinese: 大統長基) was found to have used copper chlorophyllin, an illegal coloring agent for cooking oil, in its olive oil and have adulterated its higher-end cooking oil with cheaper cottonseed oil.
2)Flavor Full Food Inc. (Chinese: 富味鄉食品股份有限公司) was accused of blending cheaper cottonseed oil into more expensive cooking oils to increase their profit. On 26 October 2013, the company admitted of their wrongdoings through health officials. The company had adulterated 24 of its products sold in Taiwan with cheaper cottonseed oil, and also added flavoring agents to one of its peanut oil products
3)Formosa Oilseed Processing Co. (Chinese: 福懋油) was found to intentionally mislabel their six cooking oil mixtures as pure olive oils. The company general manager issued an apology saying that the company will stop selling the small-package olive oil.
4)The weight-loss pills manufactured by the Geneherbs Biotechnology Co. (Chinese: 菁茵荋生物科技) were found to contain unauthorized drugs. The pills product called the Wellslim Plus+ contains cetilistat, a lipase inhibitor designed to treat obesity.
5)In early November, sodium copper chlorophyllin was found on Wu Mu (Chinese: 五木) steamed spinach ramen noodles brand manufactured by Sing-Lin Foods Corporation (Chinese: 興霖).
6)On 20 November 2013, the Food and Drug Administration of Ministry of Health and Welfare confirmed the grapeseed oil made by Taisun Enterprise Co. (Chinese: 泰山) contains the prohibited food additive copper chlorophyllin complex.
7)The contents of 11 out of 12 alcohol products manufactured by Ta lien Alcohol Company (Chinese: 大聯製酒工業公司) were found not to match the ingredients listed on their labels as announced by the Department of Finance of Changhua County Government on 28 October 2013.
8)The chairman of Ting Hsin International Group (Chinese: 頂新集團) was indicted in early November 2013 on fraud charges because of mislabeling products and violating the Act Governing Food Sanitation in connection to adulterated oil purchased from Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co.
9)Wei Chuan Food Corp (Chinese: 味全食品) were found to be involved in an adulterated cooking oil scandal. The chairman of the company offered a public apology during a press conference on 5 November 2013.
2011
Furthermore, i've found out Taiwan food scandal was a food safety scandal in Taiwan over the use one of plasticizer - DEHP to replace palm oil in food and drinks as a clouding agent.The chemical agent has been linked to developmental problems with children as it affects hormones.The food affected includes beverages, fruit juices, bread, sports drinks, tea, and jam.
general plastic products can be found in the presence of small amounts of plasticizer DEHP
In mid May 2011, Taiwanese authorities reported that two Taiwanese companies Yu Shen Chemical Co. and Pin Han Perfumery Co. were using plasticizer DEHP in clouding agents the firms manufactured. This was used as a substitute for palm oil in clouding agents as a way to keep cost down and improve profits. However, Wei Te Chemical Co., a manufacturer of clouding agents, claims that "the reason most businesses tended to utilize illegal clouding agents was not because of price, but rather the long preservation periods and esthetically pleasing effect of using DEHP-laced products."
Taiwanese prosecutors alleges that one of the company Yu Shen at the centre of the crisis has used 5 tonne of DEHP every month to manufacture clouding agents which is supplied to food processing firms and pastry shops. There were 95 Taiwanese manufacturers which has used the DEHP ingredient. A further 244 ingredient manufacturing firms had also used the DEHP.
And luckily, as I discovered when I did more research, Taiwan has taken steps to remedy the situation. It has introduced harsher penalties for food standard violations: offenders will now face seven years in prison for lacing food with banned substances or for falsifying ingredients, and could even be jailed for life if their actions result in someone’s death.
NOTE:
Adulterated food is impure, unsafe, or unwholesome food.
Adulteration is a legal term meaning that a food product fails to meet federal or state standards.
Adulteration is an addition of a non food item to increase the quantity of the food item in raw form or prepared form, which may result in the loss of actual quality of food item. Among meat and meat products one of the items used to adulterate are water, dead carcasses, Carcasses of animals other than the animal meant to be consumed.
