7 indicted for selling Sudan dye-tainted condiments

Taipei, Jan. 15 (CNA) Seven people working at a company producing and selling spices and condiments were indicted Tuesday for violating food safety laws, forging documents and committing fraud, relating to their alleged involvement in distributing products containing banned Sudan dyes, prosecutors in Yunlin County said.

The Yunlin District Prosecutors Office filed the indictment after concluding its investigation into the high-profile food safety case reported by Yunlin County Public Health Bureau in February 2024 about banned red dye Sudan III found in chili powder, it said in a statement released Wednesday.

The chili power in question was sold by a factory owned by Taipei-based Chiseng Hong Ltd. in Yunlin's Douliu City, according to the office.

The investigation was expanded after the New Taipei City Department of Health found Sudan I in curry powder produced by Chiseng Hong in October 2024, the office said.

All the seven people indicted worked at Chiseng Hong Ltd., including the company's general manager, a man surnamed Chen, and his son, a manager at their family business based in Taipei.

The remaining five individuals worked in different parts of the company, including two in quality control, two in the Douliu factory, and one in logistics, the prosecutors said.

The father and son also held positions at trading firm Rich's Spice International Inc. with the two men running both companies registered at the same address in Taipei, according to the statement.

Because the father's alleged crimes were committed as general manager at Chiseng Hong and Rich's Spice, the two companies were listed as defendants for his violation of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation.

Prosecutors sought the heaviest punishment because the defendants allegedly knew the spices they sourced contained the Sudan dyes, which are banned in Taiwan for use in foodstuffs, but went ahead with production and sales to various companies.

Prosecutors also asked the court to fine the two companies up to 10 times the fine imposed on Chen for his alleged violations of the food safety act.

According to the prosecutors, the investigation found that the company's employees first learned fine chili powder from a supplier contained Sudan III and Sudan IV, after sending samples to third-party test companies for tests in May 2023.

However, the company continued purchasing the fine chili powder from the same supplier to produce condiments which they then sold to various companies until January 2024.

Chiseng Hong also sourced turmeric powder from Rich's Spice since October 2023, even after Sudan I was found in samples sent to SGS Taiwan for testing in March 2024.

Chiseng Hong's sales of tainted products earned the company a total of NT$6.77 million (US$205,000), which the prosecutors said constituted fraud because the seven indicted withheld information on the toxic chemicals found in the ingredients for financial gain.

In late 2023, three employees doctored test results required by a supermarket chain to screen suppliers and notified Chen's son, according to the prosecutors.

As a result, the indictment also included charges of forging documents, the prosecutors explained.