Seven people working at a company producing and selling spices and condiments were indicted on Tuesday for contravening 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 banned red dye Sudan III found in chili powder reported by Yunlin County Public Health Bureau in February last year.
The chili power was sold by a factory owned by Taipei-based Chiseng Hong in Yunlin’s Douliu City (斗六), prosecutors said.
Photo: Huang Shu-li, Taipei Times
The investigation was expanded after the New Taipei City Department of Health found Sudan I in curry powder produced by Chiseng Hong in October last year, they said.
All seven people indicted worked at Chiseng Hong, including the firm’s general manager, surnamed Chen (陳), 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, prosecutors said.
The father and son also held positions at trading firm Rich’s Spice International Inc, with the two men running the companies at the same address in Taipei, they said.
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 contravention of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法).
Prosecutors sought the heaviest punishment, as 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.
Prosecutors asked the court to fine the two companies up to 10 times the fine imposed on Chen for his alleged breaches of the food safety act.
The investigation found that the company’s employees first learned that the fine chili powder from a supplier contained Sudan III and Sudan IV after sending samples to third-party testing companies in May 2023.
However, the company continued purchasing the fine chili powder from the same supplier to produce condiments, which they then sold until January last year.
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 last year.
Chiseng Hong’s sales of tainted products earned the company a total of NT$6.77 million (US$205,613), which prosecutors said constituted fraud because the seven indicted individuals 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, prosecutors said.
As a result, the indictment also included charges of forging documents, prosecutors added.
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