The tainted oil scandal widens: the flow of lard from Chuan Tung and Ho Chiang Hsiang expands to 136 additional food products and 971 restaurants and snack vendors.
(0909 Update: The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that as of September 9, the number of downstream manufacturers has increased to a total of 1,020, producing 222 problematic products. Click here to read the full list)
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The Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced this afternoon (September 7) the findings of county and city health bureau inspections into the flow of inferior-quality "Quantong Fragrant Lard" and "Hejiang Fragrant Lard" produced by Chang Guann Company. As of 2 p.m., the number of end products affected by the inferior lard has increased to 136 items and 971 food and snack businesses.
FDA Deputy Director-General Chiang Yu-mei also emphasized that starting from midnight tomorrow (the 8th), if any retailer, food service operator, or food processing operator continues to use or sell "Quantong Fragrant Lard" and "Hejiang Fragrant Lard," or uses such non-compliant oil products to manufacture related products, they will be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$50 million.
As for the 136 end products affected by Chang Guann Company's inferior lard, retailers must also remove them from shelves, otherwise they will likewise be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$50 million. Affected end-product businesses that obtain lard from other brands to resume production must ensure that batch numbers and manufacturing dates are new, and must also report to the local health bureau or the central authority.
Among the newly announced end products on today's list, the more notable ones include "Sesame Meat Pastry (16 liang)" produced by Taipei City's "Li Chi (Lian Hsiang)," New Taipei City's "Jia Qi Wan Fried Rice Noodles," 5 pork floss products from Taoyuan County's Sheng Yang Pork Floss Shop, 3 pork jerky and pork floss products from Tainan City's Pin Wei Xuan Food Shop, 3 products including mushroom sauce and corn chowder produced by Nantou County's Yu Kuo, 5 meat sauce oil packet products from Pingtung County's Lu Shi Food (including Ding Hao Mushroom Meat Sauce Oil Packets), and meat sauce and fried shallot oil products from Miaoli County's Mei Chu Food.
Among them, although Miaoli's Mei Chu Food only supplied two products, meat sauce and fried shallot oil, the Miaoli County Health Bureau's investigation found that Mei Chu Food purchased a total of 900 barrels (boxes) of "Quantong Fragrant Lard" from Chang Guann between March and the end of August, totaling approximately 12,600 kg, which was made into 9,471 kg of meat sauce and 792 kg of fried shallot oil, sold respectively to Keelung Yi Yuan, Taipei City Chen Fang and Hu Pai, New Taipei City Yi Hsiang, Taoyuan Fu Jui Hsin, Changhua Wei Lih, and Yunlin Pin Kao companies.
Among them, the Changhua County Health Bureau's investigation found that Wei Lih Company purchased 1,224 kg of meat sauce oil from Mei Chu Food in June of this year and produced 761,757 packets of seasoning oil packets, of which 670,770 seasoning oil packets were used as "Yi Du Zan Garlic Chicken Broth Ribs," "Mama Noodle Homestyle Ribs Noodle," and "Hand-Made Noodle Machine Broth Ribs Soup Noodle" instant noodle products.
The New Taipei City Government Health Bureau also received a voluntary report today from Jia Qi Wan's "Chia Yi Food Industry Co., Ltd.," which used concentrated meat sauce produced and sold by Miaoli Mei Chu Food to Keelung City Yi Yuan Food Chemical Company, using a total of 804 kg to make "Jia Qi Wan Fried Rice Noodles." Chia Yi Food Company has already removed its market products from shelves and recalled them.
In addition, the Taipei City Health Bureau's investigation found that Taipei Li Chi (Lian Hsiang) had purchased 187 barrels of "Quantong Fragrant Lard" from "Fo Chen Co., Ltd.," a downstream manufacturer of Chang Guann Company, and made 19,800 "Sesame Meat Pastries (16 liang each)." The Taipei City Market Administration Office's investigation found that Nanmen Market vendor "Yi Chang Yu Fang" purchased 4 barrels of "Hejiang Fragrant Lard" from Kung Yen Integrated Marketing in July to trial-produce eight-treasure rice, making a total of 350 bowls. Fortunately, this product was not marketed or sold.
FDA Deputy Director-General Chiang Yu-mei said that according to county and city health bureau personnel tracking the flow of "Quantong Fragrant Lard" and "Hejiang Fragrant Lard," a total of 161 distributors, 51 processing/manufacturing and food service businesses, and 23 other businesses used or sold them. Among them, downstream businesses that purchased these two products through distributors, such as snack shops or restaurants, totaled approximately 971 establishments.
Chiang Yu-mei stated that county and city health inspection personnel are currently continuing to track whether other downstream businesses have used "Quantong Fragrant Lard" and "Hejiang Fragrant Lard." She also urged consumers who see problematic end products with manufacturing dates between March 1 and August 31 not to purchase them, and urged retailers to remove these products from shelves and manage them independently.
Chang Guann Company downstream manufacturers/problematic product list, please click here
