Nanqiao oil products food-grade or industrial-grade? FDA trusts the Australian side: edible, document misprint
For three days in a row, the Food and Drug Administration and Namchow took turns holding press conferences in the morning and afternoon, each explaining the oil scandal surrounding Namchow Chemical. This morning the FDA already stated that, as confirmed by Australia's official Department of Agriculture, it trusts the Australian official account: the questionable oil from Namchow Chemical was merely a clerical error at customs declaration, and after refining it can be used for human consumption. However, the company failed to register for food import inspection as required, violating Article 30 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, and was fined 30 million yuan.
FDA demanded on Wednesday that Namchow provide proof; Namchow held press conferences on Wednesday and Thursday
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, the FDA, together with inspection personnel from the Taoyuan County Government Health Bureau, went to the Namchow Chemical plant for an on-site inspection. After cross-checking, they found that between 2013 and 2014, of 12 batches of butter imported from Australia by Namchow, only 7 batches were declared and inspected as food-grade at the border, while the remaining 5 batches were all labeled as industrial oil, allowing them to clear customs without inspection. The FDA therefore demanded on site that Namchow provide proof by noon on the 15th confirming that the source of the oil had not illegally flowed into edible oil.
On Wednesday morning, FDA Acting Director-General Chiang Yu-mei announced the questionable points, and Namchow Chemical Chairman Chen Fei-lung immediately held a press conference at 2:30 p.m. to publicly explain that no industrial oil had been mixed into edible oil. From 2012 to August 2014, the 12 batches of edible butter imported from Australia were all first-grade edible butter; it was only at customs declaration that 7 were processed as edible oil, while the remaining 5 were processed under the name "For Industry" due to the clerical error of the staff handling the declaration. Regarding this customs declaration error, Chen Fei-lung had already delivered by email, before noon that day, a certificate issued by Australia's butter regulatory association.
On Thursday the Vice Minister of Health and Welfare pointed to Namchow's import of industrial oil; on Friday the FDA explained: we trust the Australian official account, the oil is edible and only the documents were mislabeled
