2 more batches of edible oil found to contain excessive carcinogen

Taipei, July 13 (CNA) The Taichung City government on Monday identified two additional batches of edible oil products contaminated with excessive levels of the carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), along with hundreds of downstream businesses that received products made from the tainted oil.

According to the city's Office of Food and Drug Safety, the contaminated oil, with batch numbers 318-1150406 and 314-1150410, originated from Taichung-based Central Union Oil Corp. and was processed into two Fwusow Industry Co. products: Fwusow Peanut Flavored Blended Oil (2L), which contained 4.3 parts per billion (ppb) of BaP, and Fwusow Unsaturated Soybean Salad Oil, which contained 3.8 ppb. Taiwan's regulatory limit is 2 ppb.

The two batches had already been included on the Ministry of Health and Welfare's recall list. Taichung government said it had further reviewed the affected products, batch numbers and distribution channels and ordered the immediate removal of the products from store shelves.

According to the city, 102.56 metric tons of the first batch were sold to Fwusow, 108.33 metric tons to Formosa Oilseed Processing Co. and 322.96 metric tons to Taisun Enterprise Co.

Fwusow subsequently distributed products made from the batch to 188 food businesses, while Formosa sold to another 41 businesses, including Louisa Professional Coffee Ltd., Chuan-lian Hankyu Bakery Co. Ltd. and AGV Products Corp.

For the second batch, Central Union sold 639.26 metric tons to Fwusow, 477.79 metric tons to Formosa and 190.38 metric tons to Taisun.

Fwusow distributed products made from that batch to 336 businesses, while Formosa supplied another 102 businesses, including Uni-President Superior Commissary Corp. and TKK International Inc., according to the city.

The city has ordered Fwusow, Formosa and Taisun to continue providing information on affected products, batch numbers, customers and distribution channels. Any newly confirmed products will be publicly announced and removed from sale, it said.

According to the office, five batches of oil produced by Central Union have so far been found to contain excessive levels of BaP.

As of Monday, the local authorities had removed 65,374 kilograms of contaminated oil products from store shelves and inspected 1,003 businesses, including traditional markets, supermarkets, night markets and food establishments.

Separately, the Taichung government on Sunday fined Fwusow Industry NT$6 million (US$188,000) for failing to promptly report contamination involving the two newly identified products.

The city said SGS Taiwan collected samples on June 30 and issued test results on July 6, but the company did not notify authorities until the evening of July 12, violating the reporting requirements under the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation.

Fwusow was fined NT$3 million for each delayed report, bringing the company's total fines to NT$9 million, including an earlier NT$3 million penalty imposed on July 7 for the same violation.

At the end of June, Central Union reported that a 1,300-metric-ton-batch of soy-based cooking oil produced on April 4 was found to contain 8 ppb of BaP, prompting widespread investigation into related products.

Prosecutors are also looking into whether the company is criminally liable for the violations.