Lawmakers call for officials to resign over tainted cooking oil case

Taipei, July 8 (CNA) A Legislative Yuan committee on Wednesday approved a motion proposed by opposition lawmakers calling for Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and two senior health officials to step down and take responsibility over a cooking oil contamination case.

The health officials named are Health Minister Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) and Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) Director-General Chiang Chih-kang (姜至剛).

The motion passed 7-5 during a meeting of the legislature's Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, which invited health, education and economics officials to report on food safety measures following the discovery of excessive levels of the carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene in soybean oil produced by Central Union Oil Corp.

Opposition lawmakers criticized the government's handling of the recall process, saying related policies had changed several times, from initially requiring recalls only for products containing more than 20 percent of the tainted oil to later ordering all affected products removed from shelves.

Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) used a bottle containing 80 percent reverse osmosis water and 20 percent water he described as "used to wash feet" to question Shih, asking, "Would you drink it? Would you dare drink it?"

The opposition lawmakers' motion called for the three officials to apologize to the public and resign to take responsibility.

In response, Shih said he was willing to apologize for the inconvenience and confusion caused by the policy changes, adding that the authorities would review accountability after a full investigation clarifies the details of the case.

In a written report, the Health Ministry said Central Union's soybean oil production and shipments were halted on July 1, after authorities began tracing the distribution of the affected products.

The TFDA also instructed local health authorities to supervise recalls of first-tier products by July 3.

The ministry said it initially required preventive recalls of raw oil products and processed foods containing at least 20 percent of the affected oil. However, after further review, Health Minister Shih announced Tuesday that all products made with the tainted oil, regardless of the proportion used, must be removed from shelves by the end of Wednesday.

The tainted soybean oil produced by Central Union contained excessive levels of benzo[a]pyrene and affected about 1,300 metric tons of oil distributed through companies including Taisun Enterprise Co., Fwusow Industry Co. and Formosa Oilseed Processing Co.