Taipei, May 22 (CNA) Taoyuan County's Public Health Bureau fined I-Mei Foods on Wednesday for using expired ingredients in one of their products and said it has referred the case to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office for further investigation.

The bureau said it was fining I-Mei Foods NT$150,000 (US$5,025) based on the Act Governing Food Sanitation and has asked the food company to recall related products and improve the management and control of its manufacturing processes.

I-Mei's factory in Longtan Township used more than 9,000 kilograms of expired soy protein isolate, a dry powder with a high concentration of soy protein, to make an estimated 5.76 million packs of cream puffs from 2011 to 2012, Taoyuan County chief prosecutor Dai Wen-liang said Tuesday.

Prosecutors believe that of the total produced, 4.32 million packs have already been consumed, and the county health bureau said I-Mei Foods was trying to recall the cream puffs from its most recent batch of 1.44 million packs that remain on the market.

The health bureau pledged to strengthen checks on the company in the future and reminded consumers that if they still have I-Mei cream puffs produced last year, they can turn them in for a refund.

The Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office is now investigating whether I-Mei Foods should be held criminally liable for using expired ingredients in its processes.

(By Bien Chin-feng and Y.L. Kao)
Enditem/ls