Strongguan Inferior Lard Scandal Widens, Chiu Wen-ta Apologizes; FDA to Prioritize "Edible Oil and Fat Industry" in Traceability System

By Huang Fu-hui, special correspondent for NewsMarket, and Wang Wen-hao, reporter for NewsMarket

The downstream food businesses affected by Strongguan's inferior lard have expanded further. Well-known brands such as "Yu Jan Shin," "Prince Oil Rice," and "Guang Da Xiang" have all been implicated, either through the use of Strongguan's inferior lard or through the use of "Fangfu Fragrant Lard," which was produced under contract by Strongguan but accidentally cross-contaminated with feed-grade lard due to pipeline crossover. According to FDA statistics as of the afternoon, the number of products affected by feed-grade lard imported by Strongguan from Hong Kong, China, has reached as many as 155. If the 250 products affected by the original Chuan Tung Hsiang lard are added, a total of 405 products have been contaminated.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Wen-ta also publicly apologized to the public today for the first time. He emphasized that the "edible oil and fat industry," including manufacturers and importers, will soon be announced as a category that must be mandatorily included in the "Food and Related Products Traceability and Tracking System," to take effect on October 31 of this year (ROC year 103), ahead of the original implementation date in February of ROC year 104 for the "meat processed food industry," "dairy processed food industry," "aquatic product food industry," "meal box food industry," "food additive industry," and "genetically modified food raw material industry."

Deputy Director-General of the FDA Chiang Yu-mei said that the legally mandated management schedule for edible oil is as follows: by October 31, ROC year 103, operators shall complete official registration, be incorporated into the traceability and tracking system, and implement first-level quality control through "mandatory self-inspection." On January 1, ROC year 104, second-level quality control will begin, and manufacturers must undergo hygiene verification by a third-party certification body within half a year. In the third-level quality control, edible oil will be prioritized for inclusion in the Good Hygiene Practice (GHP) general inspection.

Chiang Yu-mei further stated that if operators establish traceability and tracking information that is untrue, or fail to establish a traceability and tracking system, they violate the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation and may be fined no less than NT$30,000 and no more than NT$3 million; in serious cases, they may be ordered to suspend business, cease operations, or have their registration or official login revoked; those whose official login has been revoked may not apply for re-registration within 1 year.

Inspection of Downstream Manufacturers of Fangfu Fragrant Lard: Prince Oil Rice and Yu Jan Shin Both Listed

The Taipei City Health Department has completed inspections of 33 downstream operators of "Fangfu Fragrant Lard" produced and sold by Fangfu Company, and has removed from shelves 343 barrels, totaling 5,145 kg, of "Fangfu Fragrant Lard," all used by oil retailers or the restaurant industry, among which two are food manufacturers, "Prince Oil Rice Co., Ltd." and "Shengji Food Factory Co., Ltd.," using "Fangfu Fragrant Lard."

The Taipei City Health Department stated that after the New Taipei City Health Department announced that "Fangfu Fragrant Lard" had flowed to Prince Oil Rice, Prince Oil Rice did not proactively notify the Taipei City Health Department where it is located. The Taipei City Health Department went to the company yesterday (the 13th), and the inspection found that the company had purchased from Qinghong Sesame Oil Shop in Sanchong District for 37 years, and since March of this year had purchased a total of 562 barrels of Fangfu Company's "Fangfu Fragrant Lard (15 liters)," of which 541 barrels had been used and 21 barrels returned.

The Taipei City Health Department stated that since March 1, ROC year 103, the company had produced a total of 232,295 Taiwanese jin of oil rice, made into full-month gift box oil rice, with the number of ordered recipients estimated at about 11,386 people. Because the shelf life of oil rice is within 6 hours of the meal, it is estimated that the ordering public has already consumed it all.

In addition, Shengji Food Factory also proactively notified the Taipei City Health Department yesterday (the 13th) that it had used Fangfu Fragrant Lard. The inspection found that since March of this year, the company had purchased 52 barrels of Fangfu Company's "Fangfu Fragrant Lard (15 liters)" from Shengxiang Store in Xindian District and 150 packs of "fried shallot crisp (5 Taiwanese jin)" from Xinweibao Agricultural Products Store, of which 49 barrels of Fangfu Fragrant Lard and 14 packs of fried shallot crisp had been used, and 3 barrels and 2 packs returned.

The Taipei City Health Department stated that since April 24, ROC year 103, Shengji Company had used Fangfu Fragrant Lard to manufacture curry bean paste, curry shredded pork filling, braised shredded pork filling, and red date filling, totaling 21,179.25 jin; apart from 490 jin of curry bean paste in stock, the rest had all been sold. In addition, since May 25, ROC year 103, the company had used fried shallot crisp to manufacture curry bean paste and egg yolk pastry filling totaling 6,508 jin, with 180 jin of egg yolk pastry filling in stock, and the Health Department immediately sealed the stock of filling.

In addition, the long-established Taichung Dajia shop Yu Jan Shin, famous for its butter pastry cakes, was also affected by the tainted oil because its upstream manufacturer "Zhengji" purchased Fangfu Fragrant Lard. It proactively notified the Taichung City Health Department today that products including meat-containing mung bean cakes, flaky braised pork large cakes, braised pork bean paste large cakes, curry braised pork large cakes, longevity taro large cakes, and savory sponge cakes were confirmed contaminated and have all been removed from shelves.

Latest 0914 List of Strongguan Black-Hearted Lard Products, Including All Items and 24 New Additions (Marked in Red)