Massive tainted food scandal strikes Taiwan as manufacturer poisons entire population for profit

Sunday, January 24, 2016 by: L.J. Devon, Staff Writer
Tags: tainted food, Taiwan, deceptive practices

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(NaturalNews) A food scare is unraveling in Taiwan, as the country's Ministry of Health and Welfare uncovers a string of tainted food products. A group of protestors in Taiwan are boycotting a local food group that has been selling mislabeled food products containing oils intended for animal feed. "The reason why we are boycotting their products is so that these heartless traders will be taught a lesson. They'll know they shouldn't have done such a thing, which could badly affect people."

Cheng I Food mislabeled animal feed oils to sell as lard, safe for human consumption

The food group in question, Cheng I Food, has tried to conceal the animal feed oils under a different label, dispersing them in variety of food products. The oils are being sold as if they are lard, safe for human consumption, but the oils are really recycled from restaurant waste and animal byproducts and then mixed in with lard to make the fabulous Chuan Tung cooking oil.

"Gutter oil" taints food products in over 1200 Taiwanese restaurants, schools, and food processors

The adulterated oils, produced by the Chang Guann Company, have been added to at least 1300 food products in the region, affecting more than 1,200 restaurants, schools and food processors. The adulterated products include canned pork, meat paste, instant noodles, snacks, cakes, dumplings, bread, and glutinous rice. In response, a mainland China watchdog group has banned all oil products coming from Taiwan's Cheng I Food. The oils, imported in from Vietnam, are not meant for human consumption. They are intended for animal feed. The illegal factory, Chang Guann, has been fined a total of $1.67 million for selling the poison as a profit shortcut.

The two main companies peddling the potential poisons are Ting Hsin and its smaller company Wei-Chuan. 200 or more products were also caught up in the scam, nicknamed the "gutter oil" scandal. Taiwanese traders are now urging the public to stay away from all Ting Hsin oil products. An online campaign has been launched, boycotting Ting Hsin's edible oil products, which may cause serious diseases if consumed. The regurgitated gutter oils contain potential carcinogens. Twenty-two cities in and around the scandal are now banning the sale of Ting Hsin products. In the aftermath, 3,600 tons of lard have been removed from Ting Hsin.

"Ting Hsin and Wei-chuan provided us with those kinds of products, making all our confidence disappear and harming the next generation. I think it's unnecessary for such insidious enterprises to exist at all."

Now the country's Ministry of Health and Welfare is scrambling to put a system in place that will oversee the nearly one hundred oil manufacturers and the multiple hundreds of importers in Taiwan. Any company caught selling fraudulent "gutter oil" could have their business shuttered for up to a year and fined hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Sources for this article include
http://english.cri.cn/12394/2014/10/13/2361s847658.htm
http://www.nytimes.com