List of downstream products affected by Zhenguo's violation released, including 23 items such as instant coffee and milk tea
Food safety problems keep piling up. The Taoyuan County Government Health Bureau today announced its latest seizure of non-compliant Cheng Kang products, including 23 items such as Kanou Connoisseur - Blue Mountain Blend Instant Coffee, Kanou Connoisseur - Mandheling Blend Instant Coffee, Kanou 1732 Blue Mountain Blend Instant Coffee, Kanou Original Milk Tea, and Kanou Brown Sugar Blend Milk Tea.
Earlier, the Taoyuan County Government Health Bureau received reports that Kanou Company and Cheng Kang Food Company were suspected of tampering with food expiration dates and then selling products labeled with "future dates" that were in fact already expired to chain fast-food restaurants and hypermarkets such as PX Mart, Taiwan Sugar, RT-Mart, OK Convenience Store, and Mr. Brown Cafe. The case has now been transferred to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office for investigation.
Liu Li-wen, section chief of the Taoyuan County Government Health Bureau, said that Kanou Company was unable to provide complete documentation regarding the tampering of expiration dates, the recovery and reprocessing of expired food, and the manufacture of future-dated food, and that the person in charge also refused to provide a list of downstream customers. Liu Li-wen said this conduct has violated Article 47 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, and carries a heavy fine of 3 million yuan.
The non-compliant items seized this time by the Taoyuan County Government Health Bureau include: Kanou Golden Connoisseur Coffee Gift Box - Connoisseur Instant Coffee, Mandheling Instant Coffee, Blue Mountain Instant Coffee, Kanou Original 2-in-1 Coffee, Kanou Red Latte 3-in-1 Coffee, and 23 items in total (as shown in the attached table). Liu Li-wen said that currently, "expired food" has been ordered to be taken off shelves and destroyed by the operator; food with "false labeling" or "no date labeling" has also been required to be recalled, corrected, and destroyed by the operator.
Liu Li-wen said that because Kanou is unwilling to provide a downstream list, the entire case is now being transferred to the Prosecutors Office for investigation. If Kanou continues to sell illegal products, it will violate Article 15 of the Food Safety Act, and the prosecutorial and investigative authorities may impose a fine of 60,000 yuan to 50 million yuan.
Yilan County Health Bureau Investigation Results
After receiving notification, the Yilan County Government Health Bureau's joint food safety inspection team took the initiative to inspect Cheng Kang Company. On site, they found that Cheng Kang Company was suspected of changing the packaging of foods such as Chinese herbal sturgeon rejuvenation soup, Chinese herbal sturgeon high-collagen rejuvenation soup, and Chinese herbal rejuvenation congee, tampering with expiration dates, and then selling them to operators in food service, retail, hotels, homestays, billiard halls, internet cafes, and KTVs, sealing 2,091 packages of products on site.
In addition, Yilan County inspection team personnel also found that within the Cheng Kang Company plant there were 10 expired products, including chicken tail vertebrae, bone-in chicken thigh T5, drumstick D5, TS5 thigh steak, Ming Yuan chopped bacon, bone thigh dice, Fu Hua shredded cheese M2, Fu Hua shredded cheese M6, Chinese herbal sturgeon fish congee, and Kangbao Meiyu white sauce, totaling 4,706.26 kg.
Expired Food Flows into Hualien County; Operators Distance Themselves
A former employee blew the whistle on Cheng Kang Company under Kanou, alleging that its cakes flowed into four major hotels in Hualien: Fullon, Fuyeh, Blue Sky Lichi, and Yiyuan Resort. Officials from the food section of the Hualien County Health Bureau explained that in the downstream product list of the Kanou Group received so far, no items flowed into Hualien County. Although the four major hotels mentioned above had previously purchased goods from Abu Cake Shop under Cheng Kang, none were expired items on the list.
A spokesperson for Fuyeh Hot Spring Resort said that they had transactions with Cheng Kang Company only once or twice last year, and have not purchased from them since then. Mr. Mao, spokesperson for Blue Sky Lichi, also said that they have already proactively notified the Hualien County Health Bureau, and that the hotel has not used any of the problematic products. However, as long as a manufacturer is problematic, they will not purchase from them again in the future, and currently all products of the Kanou Group have also been fully taken off shelves.
Huang Hsiao-yuan of Yiyuan Resort said that they had already proactively issued a preventive notification to the Hualien County Health Bureau this morning (the 21st). Yiyuan purchased tiramisu cake from Cheng Kang in October this year, but the quantity was small, and it was not the problematic Black Forest or Vanilla Taro cake that was seized. Huang Hsiao-yuan said that even so, their trust in Cheng Kang Company has been broken, and in the future they will no longer purchase or stock any products from Cheng Kang Company.
The illegal act of tampering with expiration dates by the Kanou Group has lasted at least 2 years, with more than 4,000 customers and more than 300 product items. Chiang Yu-mei, acting director-general of the Food and Drug Administration, said that tampering with food expiration dates already violates Article 15 of the Food Safety Act, and continuing to sell products beyond their expiration date can result in a fine of 60,000 to 50 million yuan. After the new law is amended, such illegal acts may in the future be fined up to 200 million.