Test results withheld in tainted oil case amid suspected sample fraud

Taipei, July 12 (CNA) Taiwan's health authorities will not release test results obtained for samples from 29 batches of cooking oil produced by Central Union Oil Corp. between April and June amid concerns some of the samples were falsified.

Health Minister Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said Sunday concerns emerged after the results for oil samples retained by Central Union from production runs between April and June were inconsistent with the results obtained for blended oils that used Central Union products.

The discrepancies raised further questions about the practices of Central Union.

It was already fined NT$165.2 million (US$5.2 million) by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) on July 7 for not immediately reporting that its soy-based edible oil was found to contain excessive levels of the carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene.

The company's General Manager Yu Ling-chung (余凌沖) and Chairman Tsai Ching-sung (蔡清松) have also been questioned and released on NT$20 million bail under suspicion of processing food harmful to human health and delaying the reporting of adverse tests.

According to its ruling, the Taichung District Court agreed to bail for Yu after he admitted to the criminal conduct alleged and because prosecutors and police had already secured key evidence, but prosecutors have still appealed Yu's release.

The case emerged at the end of June when Central Union reported that a 1,300-metric-ton-batch of soy-based cooking oil produced on April 4 was found to contain 8 parts per billion of the carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene, four times the maximum permitted amount.

That was nearly three weeks after it learned of the issue from a downstream supplier, Shih alleged in a previous press conference on July 7.

Since then, products made by downstream food processors Taisun Enterprise Co. and Namchow Oil & Fat from two other batches of Central Union oil made on May 10 and May 12 were also found to contain excessive benzo[a]pyrene levels.

Conflicting results

As part of its investigation into the cause of the contamination and if Central Union acted improperly, the government collected samples retained by Central Union and downstream food processors that used Central Union products from production runs between April and June.

The Taichung City Office of Food and Drug Safety, which conducted its own investigation, said Thursday that apart from the batches already found to exceed regulatory limits, retained samples from other batches all met national safety standards.

That put the spotlight on when the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) would release its test results.

Shih said Sunday that the TFDA inspected Central Union's plant after the scandal broke and ordered samples retained from every batch to be retested by accredited third-party laboratories.

The results were obtained on July 8 and 9, Shih said, but the TFDA opted not to make them public because the Central Union samples met safety standards while downstream products made from the same batches of oil exceeded legal limits, calling into question the reliability of the samples provided by Central Union.

The first major discrepancy emerged when Taisun submitted test results showing that a blended oil product it produced with Central Union oil exceeded the 2 ppb (micrograms per kilogram) safety limit for benzo[a]pyrene.

The corresponding retained sample kept by Central Union, however, tested within the legal limit.

A similar discrepancy surfaced on July 9, when Namchow's test results for a product it made with Central Union oil showed benzo[a]pyrene levels exceeding the limit while the Central Union sample of the oil used by Namchow tested clean, Shih said.

As a result of the conflicting data, the TFDA decided not to release the results and ordered on Thursday a recall of all products made with Central Union oil produced between April and June, pending batch-by-batch retesting before products are allowed to return to store shelves.

The TFDA said it will announce on Monday criteria for allowing cooking oil products that were recalled in the contamination case to return to the market.

As of Sunday afternoon, 144 metric tons of products linked to the affected oil batches had been successfully recalled, according to the TFDA.