Downstream vendors of the justice ministry's blended oil cannot be proven to have violated the law; the Ministry of Health and Welfare will not release the list for now
In the case of Zheng Yi oil products suspected of being blended with other oils, the Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday set a "D-day", requiring downstream operators to voluntarily report by 6 p.m. tonight. However, as of 10 a.m. today, only 47 had reported. Feng Runlan, director of the FDA's regional management center, said that the evidence is not yet clear enough and that this is merely a precautionary removal from shelves by the operators. "The first priority is to confirm that it has not been consumed. Many downstream businesses have already switched oils. Making it public is meaningless for everyone."
Between mid-February and May of this year, Zheng Yi Company, under Ting Hsin, purchased lard raw materials from Xin Hao Company that were suspected of being mixed with feed-grade lard. Starting February 25, these were refined into 37 oil products and sold to 230 downstream operators.
Ting Hsin also precautionarily removed from shelves 31 oil products containing lard ingredients that were produced before February 25. A total of 68 oil products, involving 363 downstream operators, must be reported. However, as of 10 a.m. today, only 47 operators had reported, a ratio of just 13%, and 22,000 kilograms of oil products had been voluntarily removed from shelves.
Acting Director-General of the FDA Jiang Yumei said that Article 7 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation stipulates that if operators discover products with suspected violations of health and safety, they must voluntarily report. If these 363 operators fail to voluntarily report by 6 p.m. tonight, they will be fined 30,000 to 3 million yuan; if they fail to remove products from shelves by the 13th, they will be fined 60,000 to 50 million yuan.
FDA Insists on Not Publishing the Downstream List
But the FDA does not plan to publish the names of these 47 operators, because much of the lard is used to make immediate-consumption products. "Many downstream businesses have already switched oils. Making it public is meaningless for everyone." Feng Runlan said that the district prosecutors' office is still investigating and has not said that Zheng Yi broke the law; this is merely a precautionary removal from shelves, so it will not be published. Some of these operators sell oil, while others are distributors or hypermarkets.
Several reporters on site questioned why the list was not quickly published as in the previous gutter oil case. Feng Runlan repeatedly reiterated that in the gutter oil case the manufacturer was confirmed to have broken the law immediately, while Zheng Yi is still under investigation and this is merely a precautionary removal from shelves. If a violation is found, the downstream list will be published immediately.
Hong Kong Blockage, FDA Still Has Not Traced Jin Bao Yun Company
In addition, the Tainan District Prosecutors' Office pointed out that the upstream supplier of Zheng Yi oil products had actually "arrived at the same destination by different routes" as the gutter oil case, both importing "inedible animal and vegetable blended oil" from Hong Kong's Jin Bao Yun Company. However, Feng Runlan said that the FDA has not yet sent personnel to Hong Kong because the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety is still investigating. "Our two candidates are ready at any time and are already waiting there."