Carcinogen-Tainted Oil Sparks Food Safety Crisis in Taiwan
A major food safety crisis has hit Taiwan after 1,300 tons of commercial cooking oil supplied by Central Union Oil Corporation was found to contain excessive levels of Benzopyrene (BaP), a Group 1 carcinogen. The contaminated batch, which tested for up to four times the legal safety limit, has made it into retail stores and school lunch networks across Taipei, New Taipei, and Taichung. President Lai Ching-te has issued directives demanding swift product removal, while legislators are demanding transparency into why it took months for the public to be officially notified.
Tainted cooking oil has been found in children's school lunches in several parts of Taiwan.
Health authorities discovered the oil contained excessive levels of the group 1 carcinogen Benzopyrene, or BaP... often produced in high-heat cooking processes.
CHEN YI-MING, ONCOLOGIST: "They sent it to a third-party test provider and the result came back at 8.1 parts per billion. It failed two consecutive tests. Because the allowable level is below 2 parts per billion. Frankly, the testing process here is incredibly slow."
Officials say Central Union Oil Corporation shipped the problematic batch of soybean oil without testing for BaP first.
The issue came to light after one of its client companies tested it in April... but the government was not notified until the end of June.
1300 tons of it has gone to hundreds of schools and retail stores... and it has lawmakers questioning how safety systems failed.
CHEN GAU-TZU, LEGISLATOR (TPP): "From zero, within the acceptable range to being over double the allowable standard and finally to quadruple. Where did testing of this batch go wrong? Was it the sample or the tests themselves?"
FAN YUN, LEGISLATOR (DPP): "The health ministry must guide oil suppliers to improve their safety procedures and measures. The people cannot accept any more similar incidents of high-risk oil products making it to market."
Taiwan’s food and drug administration has urged downstream businesses to stop selling and using the contaminated oil... or risk a fine of up to 90 thousand US dollars.
CHIANG CHI-KANG, DIRECTOR, TAIWAN FOOD AND DRUG ADMIN.: "Regarding the manufacturing processes and checkpoints we will strengthen our oversight. We’ll also improve the follow-up tracking and random testing. We will continue to monitor closely."
The food safety crisis has prompted President Lai Ching-te to urge businesses to comply with the investigation.
LAI CHING-TE, TAIWAN PRESIDENT: "If it needs to be pulled from the shelves it must be done. We must also require the 257 downstream firms to proactively disclose their products. The public has the right to know. Finally, we must hold the perpetrators accountable with absolutely no leniency."
The FDA has given firms a strict deadline to recall the tainted oil... but with public anxiety growing... Families are demanding to know how the product slipped through the system and got onto children's plates.
