The destination of imported cottonseed oil is unclear; whether it is refined for export or blended into domestic edible oil remains to be investigated

Newsmarket reporters He Xinjie and Lin Huizhen report jointly

The fallout from the Datung Changji case, in which inferior oil was blended into higher-priced oil, continues to spread. A legislator revealed during an interpellation yesterday that Taiwan, China imports cottonseed oil at 7,600 tonnes per year, and only 40 percent of it goes to Datung Changji, while the remaining 60 percent all goes to another well-known brand, Fwusow. Because gossypol in cottonseed oil carries reproductive toxicity, the legislator demanded that the Ministry of Health and Welfare investigate in detail what Fwusow is using such large quantities of imported cottonseed oil for.

Fwusow is the largest domestic manufacturer of sesame oil and also the largest exporter of sesame oil, with products including sesame oil, fragrant oil, black sesame oil and sesame paste, and it even does contract manufacturing of cold noodle sauce for Uni-President 7-Eleven convenience stores, covering a broad range of products.

Legislator Lin Shufen pointed out that from last year to now, Taiwan, China has imported 7,619 tonnes of cottonseed oil, of which Fwusow accounted for 60 percent, about 4,571 tonnes. She checked all the customs import and export data, and the total national export volume of cottonseed oil was around 400 to 500 tonnes. She additionally noted, based on Fwusow's financial reports, that Fwusow's exports of oils other than sesame oil amount to only 129 tonnes a year, and she suspects that 97 percent of the imported cottonseed oil is blended into other oil products. She demanded that the Ministry of Health and Welfare investigate in detail where the cottonseed oil imported by Fwusow actually goes.

Fwusow: refined cottonseed oil is all exported

Because Fwusow is an over-the-counter listed company, its stock price fell sharply as soon as the news came out, so Fwusow issued a material information clarification at the GreTai Securities Market yesterday afternoon, stating that the cottonseed oil is all exported after refining, accounting for only 3.1 percent of total revenue, and that its main products are sesame oil and sesame paste.

Fwusow executive vice president Lin Xiurong stressed that the sesame oil is not blended with cottonseed oil and does not contain gossypol; all the cottonseed oil the company refines is exported, mainly to Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Australia and the Philippines, where customers further turn it into products such as blended fragrant oil, chili oil and corn oil.

In its material information, Fwusow also produced a test report commissioned from the Food Industry Research and Development Institute, proving that no gossypol was detected. The Ministry of Health and Welfare also stated that after a preliminary investigation, Fwusow's annual cottonseed oil import and export quantities match.

To reassure consumers, Fwusow also announced that all of its current products have been sent for testing, and that if consumers have doubts and want to return or exchange goods, the company will accept it in full and will also accept requests from sales channels to take products off the shelves.

Yesterday the health bureaus of New Taipei City and Changhua County already launched a full inspection of Fwusow's factories. Lin Yufen, section chief of food hygiene at the Changhua County Health Bureau, said in the evening that all Fwusow factories within Changhua County had been fully inspected, confirming that all the cottonseed oil was used for export and was not added to domestic products.