2 more batches identified in tainted oil case; 1,322 businesses affected

Taipei, July 16 (CNA) Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) said Thursday that two additional batches of cooking oil produced by Central Union Oil Corp. had been found to contain excessive levels of the carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene (BaP).

The contamination was traced to two tainted downstream products, bringing the total number of affected soybean-based cooking oil batches to seven of the 30 batches produced by the company between April and June, the agency said.

The TFDA also said the tainted oil has affected a total of 1,322 businesses.

As of 11 a.m. Thursday, 2,584.4 metric tons of contaminated oil products had been removed from shelves, while another 5,126.7 metric tons had been preemptively withdrawn pending further investigation, the agency said.

Meanwhile, the TFDA imposed the maximum fine of NT$3 million (US$93,114) on Central Union for deliberately failing to disclose a batch of cooking oil produced on April 1, despite a July 9 government order requiring the recall of all products linked to oil manufactured by the company between April and June.

In a news release, the TFDA said it received a report Wednesday from Yilan County health authorities that a preemptively recalled product was suspected of containing oil produced by Central Union in April, even though the batch was not included in the inventory submitted by the company.

Following the report, the agency dispatched inspectors to Central Union and confirmed that the batch existed but had been omitted from the company's records, TFDA Deputy Director-General Wang Te-yuan (王德原) told reporters.

Wang said each instance of illegal conduct, including omissions or concealment, would be penalized separately. He added that authorities are continuing to trace the distribution of the undisclosed batch and verify the recall status of related products.

Central Union had previously been fined NT$165.2 million (US$5.2 million) for failing to promptly report excessive BaP levels in its cooking oil.

The case came to light in late June when the company reported that a 1,300-metric-ton batch of soybean oil produced on April 4 contained BaP at nearly four times the legal limit.

Authorities say Central Union knew about the contamination nearly three weeks before reporting it.

Prosecutors are also investigating whether the company bears criminal liability in the case.