From olive oil and peanut oil to chili oil, all were adulterated; Kuang Ta Trading was heavily fined 28.2 million

After being caught yesterday making fake olive oil with copper chlorophyllin, Chang Guann Co., Ltd. (Dato Chang Chi) was caught again today with fraudulent cooking oils including peanut oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil, chili oil, camellia oil and safflower seed oil, or with low-priced inferior oil blended into and sold as higher-priced oil products. The Changhua County Health Bureau cracked down hard today, ordering Dato's production line to halt work immediately and issuing a fine of NT$28.2 million under a "one item, one penalty" approach, the largest fine in the history of food safety.

Lin Yufen, chief of the Food Hygiene Section of the Changhua County Health Bureau, said that as of this evening, 80 violating oil products had been seized, of which 64 were confiscated on the spot and 18 were found to be in violation after formula sheets and raw materials were compared during a factory search. The circumstances were serious, and there were repeated lies and deliberate evasion of inspections, so after discussion with the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), it was decided to impose the heaviest penalty under the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation and order a work stoppage.

Tsai Shu-chen, head of the Food Division of the Food and Drug Administration under the MOHW, said the MOHW determined that Dato's actions involved false labeling and the addition of copper chlorophyllin, which is used in chewing gum, to oil products, amounting to serious economic crime. The MOHW recommended that the Changhua County Health Bureau impose the heaviest penalty, but the final discretionary amount was still left to the local government to decide, in the hope of deterring other unscrupulous manufacturers from continuing to produce tainted oil products. People familiar with the matter said that in this Dato case, "even the minister could not stand it," and that senior officials directly ordered the heavy penalty to serve as a warning.

Chang Chih-kang, chairman of the Consumers' Foundation and a lawyer, expressed approval of the result: "The government has finally done what it should do!" Chang said that in the past, administrative agencies gave enterprises too much room and respected them too much, and although many products were in violation, only a one-time penalty was imposed. In the Dato case, a cumulative calculation method was adopted, greatly increasing the total fine, which is the only way to truly punish malicious manufacturers and protect consumers' rights.

Chang Chih-kang said that from the standpoint of a legal professional, "the method of one item, one penalty and cumulative fines is specifically used to punish repeat offenders, so that criminals do not think 'doing it a few more times makes no difference.'" The government's first use of the "one item, one penalty" approach to handle a food safety incident counts as a progressive pioneering step, and he hopes it will serve as a warning to other manufacturers: "Don't keep harboring a fluke mentality!"

As of evening, the investigation by prosecutors and investigators into Chang Guann Co., Ltd. was still ongoing. Lin Yufen said the Changhua County government would inspect all series of products from Chang Guann Co., Ltd. without leniency, and would also inspect other oil factories in Changhua County. "As long as manufacturers are willing to cooperate, we will first conduct inspections through administrative authority. In cases like Dato, which is dishonest and unwilling to cooperate with the investigation, we will ask judicial forces to intervene in the investigation."

Because Dato's oil products were cheap, they were a commonly chosen raw material for food stalls and budget restaurants, and many operators cried foul at having been cheated. A street vendor in the Gongguan area was busy today replacing the cooking oil and chili ingredients in the shop, so that customers would not refuse to come after seeing the Dato brand. The owner, who declined to be named, said, "Dato counts as a well-known old brand, yet every kind of oil is fake. For those of us doing honest business, it is truly unfair!"