TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) delivered a special report to the legislature Tuesday on the contaminated cooking oil scandal involving Central Union Oil (中聯油), expressing "deep regret" for the public anxiety caused by the incident and pledging stricter food safety oversight.
Cho said the government would respond through reflection and self-examination, stressing that the Ministry of Health and Welfare's responsibility is to strengthen inspections and oversight, rather than conceal the scandal, according to PTS.
Before Cho's report, KMT and TPP lawmakers occupied the legislative podium, briefly preventing him from taking the floor. During questioning, opposition legislators repeatedly demanded political accountability, with some calling for a Cabinet reshuffle over the government's handling of the food safety incident.
Cho said the Cabinet would propose amendments to the Food Safety Act to strengthen accountability throughout the food supply chain, from source management to reporting requirements. Responding to criticism over delays in recalling contaminated cooking oil products, Cho said lawmakers had repeatedly misinterpreted the government's actions.
He outlined a timeline of the government's response, noting the Food and Drug Administration received notification from Central Union Oil on June 30 and ordered the company to halt production and sales the following day. On July 2, authorities followed food recall principles established in 2017, recalling all first-tier products associated with the tainted cooking oil, per SETN.
On July 3, Cho directed the health ministry to expand the recall by issuing public warnings and considering downstream products. Cho said the ministry convened an expert meeting the following day and set a 20% oil content threshold for product recalls, with authorities later identifying 360 third-tier manufacturers and ordering 401 products to be removed from store shelves. He said the measures were significantly stricter than the standards established under the 2017 guidelines.
DPP Legislator Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) defended the premier, arguing that the Food Safety Act makes ensuring food safety a shared responsibility between the central and local governments, according to PTS.
"The primary responsibility of local authorities is to be on the front lines, inspecting and penalizing illegal food products. Whether inspections at the factory were carried out effectively will be a crucial basis for future administrative and judicial investigations," Cho said.
Looking ahead, Cho said the government will complete testing of oil samples collected from Central Union Oil's production facilities within one week, continue precautionary product removals from store shelves, and adopt new source-based, itemized inspection procedures to strengthen quality control.
He added that the Cabinet will submit amendments to the Food Safety Act and related regulations within one week. The proposed revisions would require upstream manufacturers to increase self-inspections from once every six months to batch-by-batch inspections, significantly strengthening food safety oversight.
