TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taichung District Prosecutors Office on Friday requested the detention of Central Union Oil Corp. General Manager Yu Ling-chung (余凌冲) as part of an investigation into the sale of soybean salad oil containing benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), a carcinogen, at levels four times Taiwan's legal limit.
Prosecutors allege that Central Union Oil, a joint venture owned by Taisun Enterprise (泰山), Fwusow Industry (福壽), and Formosa Oilseed Processing Co. (福懋), delayed notifying authorities after a June 15 meeting involving its three shareholders, per UDN. After questioning nine company representatives, including senior executives and Central Union Oil's plant manager, prosecutors requested Yu's detention, citing concerns that he could tamper with evidence or collude with witnesses, per UDN.
Central Union Oil Deputy General Manager Chiang (蔣) responded to Yu's detention request by saying the company respects the legal process and declined further comment, per Liberty Times. According to UDN, investigators may have expanded their probe after the Food and Drug Administration determined that Central Union Oil violated the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation by failing to promptly report the batch of contaminated oil.
As the investigation continues, Health Minister Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) announced Thursday that all products made with Central Union Oil soybean oil produced between April and June would be removed from store shelves, per PTS. The FDA has published on its website lists of affected salad oil products, businesses that purchased the affected oil, and food products made with the contaminated oil, per CNA.
Initial testing identified about 1,300 metric tons of Central Union Oil soybean salad oil produced in April as exceeding the legal limit for BaP. On Wednesday, authorities announced that another 1,309 metric tons produced in May also exceeded the standard, per Rti.
National Taiwan University Professor Wu Kuen-yuh (吳焜裕) said the incident may have exposed a gap in Taiwan's food safety oversight, which he said focuses primarily on testing products after they enter the market, per UDN. He noted that Taiwan did not establish legal limits for BaP in food until 2018.
Because Central Union Oil entered the edible oil business in 1997, Wu said the company may not have updated its production processes to meet the newer standard. Unless the company modified its manufacturing process after 2018, Wu said, its cooking oil would likely continue to exceed the legal BaP limit.
Wu said Central Union Oil previously sold its cooking oil exclusively to its three shareholders, meaning the government's routine market inspections did not directly test the company's oil. Previous inspections of products from Taisun, Fwusow Industry, and Formosa Oilseed Processing had all met safety standards.
National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University Professor Liu Tsung-jung (劉宗榮) called on authorities to send investigators to Central Union Oil's production facilities to determine the source of the contamination. He said while some experts believe the elevated BaP levels may be related to the soybean roasting process, investigators should also examine whether smoke exposure from wildfires in Brazil affected the soybeans before import.
Separately, Shih said during Thursday's news conference that deputy mayors from Taichung and Taoyuan had asked when products made with the contaminated oil could return to the market, per Liberty Times. He later clarified that Taichung had called for all affected products to be removed from circulation, while Taoyuan was relaying concerns from businesses affected by the recall, per Liberty Times.
Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) suggested Shih had misspoken after several days spent handling the contamination case, per NOWNews. Meanwhile, the KMT criticized Shih's remarks and called on him to release records of Thursday's meeting with local government officials, per UP Media.
The KMT said both Taichung and Taoyuan support removing all potentially affected products from circulation while allowing products made with the recalled oil to return to the market only after authorities determine they are safe for consumption.
