Presidential order launches "Oil Safety Operation," another 3 businesses and 7 oil products found mislabeled
The black oil scandal keeps spreading, and the well-known manufacturer Fwusow also admitted to false labeling and the addition of cottonseed oil. President Ma Ying-jeou ordered strict inspections and heavy penalties to crack down on unscrupulous manufacturers. Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Wen-ta announced this afternoon that the "Oil Safety Action" would be launched immediately, requiring edible oil businesses to submit a joint pledge before the 31st of this month, guaranteeing that product ingredients and additives are all truthfully labeled. November 1 (the day is Merchants' Festival) is "Oil Safety D-Day." If further fraud is discovered, it will not be ruled out to directly transfer the case for prosecution under the crime of fraud.
In addition, as of this afternoon, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has tasked county and city health bureaus with inspecting all 163 edible oil factories nationwide; 147 have been completed. The Taoyuan County Health Bureau found 3 businesses involved in false labeling, namely: 1 case of Kao Ho Hsing chili oil, 4 cases of Far East Grease Company's margarine, and 1 case each of Jin Wei Chuan black sesame oil and chili oil. Each case was issued a fine of 200,000 yuan, totaling 1.4 million yuan. Currently, 213 products are still undergoing testing.
Ministry of Health and Welfare spokesperson Wang Che-chao said that manufacturers may express a "pledge" in any form, whether it is posting a large notice in a store, placing an advertisement, or businesses jointly holding a press conference, "all can be considered a form of pledge." After a public pledge, if they lie again, they will be transferred for prosecution under the crime of fraud in the Criminal Code.
The Food and Drug Administration emphasized that although Fwusow's blending with cottonseed oil involved false labeling, domestically refined cottonseed oil had no gossypol detected, so it does not involve food safety issues. The FDA cited research from the International Agency for Research on Cancer proving that villagers in Jiangsu, mainland China, developed a "village without babies" because of eating cottonseed oil, because the local cottonseed oil was unrefined.
Regarding society's worry that cottonseed oil kills sperm and causes cancer, Chu Yen-hua, director of the Food Industry Research and Development Institute, believed that "there is absolutely no need for such panic. Some people poured Datong oil away, and I think that was really a pity!" She emphasized that manufacturers including Datong and Fwusow were only falsely labeling and did not involve any harmful substances. "What is truly harmful to the human body is copper chlorophyllin and peanut flavoring, not soybean oil or cottonseed oil."
Chu Yen-hua said that cottonseed oil is commonly used abroad to fry potato chips and in cooking, and aside from being relatively cheap, no evidence of harm to the human body has been found. In response to outside concerns about the issue of genetically modified cottonseed oil, Chu Yen-hua explained that genetic modification technology mainly affects the protein portion of cottonseed, but the intense oil-pressing process has already destroyed the protein properties of cottonseed, so there will be no genetically modified food issue.