TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Minister without Portfolio Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) defended the Health Ministry's decision Thursday to allow 19 batches of recalled salad oil produced by Central Union Oil Corp. back into circulation, saying the government's testing procedures are based on scientific standards.
The Health Ministry removed 30 batches of salad oil manufactured by Central Union Oil between April and June from circulation after concerns that they may contain levels of the carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) exceeding legal limits, per CNA.
After testing the 30 batches, the ministry said 22 met safety standards, seven broke regulations, and one export batch had no remaining samples available for testing. The ministry allowed 19 of the 22 compliant batches to return to circulation, while the remaining three batches that had not entered the market, the seven noncompliant batches, and the export batch without available samples remained unavailable for sale.
Chen said Thursday that while the public had called for more comprehensive testing, inspections must be conducted on a sound scientific basis, per NOWNews. He said the central government's food safety inspection program operates according to risk assessments, adding that ongoing evaluations will guide future inspection priorities.
Chen made the remarks after mayors and county officials from across the political spectrum criticized the decision to return 19 batches to the market. Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) urged the central government to delay the move until the investigation identifies the cause of the contaminated salad oil, per SETN.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) agreed, saying it was too early to discuss returning the recalled products to the market. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said the recall was a precautionary measure, but his city would not allow the affected products back into circulation until the investigation into Central Union Oil is completed, per UP Media.
Chen Chi-mai said the issue was the company's failure to disclose information about the affected products. He called for expanded inspections of businesses further up the supply chain.
Nantou County Magistrate Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) said returning the products to circulation would not ease public concerns and could instead create additional anxiety, per Liberty Times. Following the government's decision, Lu instructed catering businesses that receive city government subsidies, hold contracts with the city government, or provide services under city programs not to use the 19 recalled oil batches, per UDN.
Fwusow Industry, one of four companies that jointly founded Central Union Oil, said it would not return products from the 19 approved batches to the market and would end future cooperation with Central Union Oil, per KNews. The company also announced that it had ordered advanced BaP testing equipment from Japan to strengthen its food safety testing standards, per UDN.
