Ding Xin Vietnam lard flows into its subsidiary Zheng Yi's 59 oil products, Mei & Mei affected
Ding Hsin is suspected of importing Vietnamese feed-grade beef tallow, and even its own affiliates have been caught up in it. After Justice lard was recently found to contain "chicken" components, the FDA under the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced this morning a list of beef tallow products to be taken off shelves, adding 59 oil products under its affiliate Justice Co. However, the FDA said that 47 of them were blended into lard and had already been removed from shelves during the previous lard incident, while the other 12 include shortening, white oil, thousand-layer puff pastry margarine and others (please see the link for the detailed list). But the distribution records have been seized by investigators, so they cannot be known at present, and any latest news will be announced immediately.
As of this morning, the list of Ding Hsin Vietnamese beef tallow products voluntarily removed from shelves covers 7 businesses and 71 products, including Lianxia Food Industry Co., Ltd., the Douliu plant of Wei Chuan Foods Corporation, Hsin Yu Yuan Food Factory Co., Ltd. (downstream Ruei Lin Mei Er Mei), Chuan Ya Co., Ltd., San Yi Food Ingredients Co., Ltd., and Justice Co., Ltd.; Hsing Fu Brothers Enterprise Co., Ltd., reported by New Taipei City health authorities, is still being confirmed.
Tracing the distribution, the breakfast chain "Ruei Lin Mei Er Mei" was also affected; its upstream Hsin Yu Yuan Food Factory bought Ding Hsin beef tallow to make 450g nutritional cream, 450g fresh mellow cream, and 3kg nutritional cream. According to a report in the "China Times," the head office of Ruei Lin Mei Er Mei said that the single-order butter toast at nearly 70 Mei Er Mei breakfast shops across Taiwan uses "Chrysanthemum brand fresh mellow cream spread," all of which has been fully returned and replaced with qualified spread.
Edible oil plants with capital of 30 million or more must conduct self-inspections before the end of October
FDA Director-General Chiang Yu-mei said that previously 27 oil plants with capital of 30 million or more had been required to provide records of incoming and outgoing shipments, among which 3 oil plants only make feed oil, another 3 are Ding Hsin, Justice, and Chang Guann, which have already been ordered to suspend operations, and of the remaining 21, 17 have been inspected and no irregularities have been found so far, but tracking is still continuing.
The FDA also formally issued a document today requiring edible oil and fat manufacturers with capital of 30 million or more and factory registration to carry out mandatory self-inspections starting from October 31, including for veterinary drugs, pesticide residues, mycotoxins, heavy metals, total polar compounds, benzopyrene and others, with inspections at least once every six months, and test results must be kept for 6 months after the product's expiration date. Wu Hsi-wen, section chief of the FDA's Food Division, said that self-inspection by businesses is first-level quality control, complementing second-level third-party inspection and third-level government sampling inspection; if businesses do not comply, they may be fined 6 to 50 million yuan under the "Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation."
20141024 latest Ding Hsin beef tallow distribution list, please click here