A top executive of Ting Hsin Oil and Fat Industrial Co (頂新製油實業) and two from Cheng I Food Co (正義股份) were detained yesterday in connection with the ongoing cooking oil scandals.
Ting Hsin Oil & Fat acting chairman and former general manager Chen Mao-chia (陳茂嘉) was detained after more than 10 hours of questioning by prosecutors in Changhua County overnight, following a search of the company headquarters.
In Greater Kaohsiung, Cheng I president Ho Yu-jen (何育仁) and deputy chief procurement officer Hu Chin-min (胡金忞) were also detained.
Photo: Yen Hung-chun, Taipei Times
The two companies, both units of food conglomerate Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團), are accused of using lard meant for animal feed in their cooking oil products.
The incident — the third oil-related scandal to hit the conglomerate within a year — has sparked widespread outrage among consumers in Taiwan, leading to a campaign to boycott the group’s products and brands.
Former Cheng I and Ting Hsin Oil & Fat chairman Wei Ying-chun (魏應充) held a news conference on Saturday to apologize to the public.
He also announced that the two subsidiaries would suspend their operations until their procedures were improved.
He is now under investigation by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
The Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said a meeting is to be held today among prosecutors from 13 local prosecutors’ offices who currently have food-related cases on hand.
The meeting aims to integrate information and communications among the local prosecutors in a bid to enhance the efficiency of the investigations.
The Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said a total of 48 food-related cases have been undertaken by prosecutors in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Greater Taichung, Chuanghua County, Yunlin County, Chiayi, Greater Tainan, Greater Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Yilan County and Penghu.
Althought the 48 cases may not all be of major food security concerns, particiants at the meeting today are to nonetheless discuss the cases and decide whether any warrant an expansion in terms of its probes, the office said.
Meanwhile, according to the Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office, Ting Hsin Oil & Fat Industrial had been indicted well before the latest revelations surfaced.
The indictment against Ting Hsin Oil & Fat Industrial and three of its executives was handed down on Aug. 21 and covered charges of fraud, faking product labels and violating food safety regulations, charges dating back to an oil scandal that emerged late last year, the office said.
Prosecutors said Ting Hsin Oil & Fat purchased low-cost oils from Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co (大統長基) that contained artificial coloring and cottonseed oil, but were marketed as more expensive products.
It then processed those oils and also sold them as high-priced pure olive oil or grapeseed oil, making illicit gains, prosecutors said.
Chang Chi Foodstuff’s scheme to pawn cheaper oils off as more expensive ones was not publicly exposed until October last year, when the Ting Hsin Group’s flagship Wei Chuan Foods Corp (味全食品工業) brand was also found to have sold the adulterated oil products for several years.
After an investigation, prosecutors determined that Ting Hsin Oil & Fat was selling its adulterated oils to Wei Chuan on a contract basis.
In the indictment, prosecutors alleged that the three of its executives knew the oils the company bought from Chang Chi were adulterated, yet continued to purchase and ship them to the Pingtung factory to be processed and packaged for Wei Chuan.
Prosecutors recommended that the company be fined NT$51.08 million (US$1.68 million) and have also asked the court to give them the maximum possible sentences because they “showed no remorse for the offenses.”
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old