food safety incidents in taiwan food safety incidents in taiwan food safety incidents in taiwan have received international media scrutiny. 2011: plasticizer use in food products the principal food safety incident in taiwan was over the use of the plasticizer dehp to replace palm oil in food and drinks as a clouding agent. the chemical agent has been linked to developmental problems with children as it affects hormones. the food affected includes beverages, fruit juices, bread, sports drinks, tea, and jam. after two years of investigations, the taiwanese government levied nt$1.2 million (approx. us$40,000) in fines against 37 companies, or slightly more than us$1000 per company. history in mid-may 2011, the republic of china authorities reported that two taiwanese companies yu shen chemical co. and pin han perfumery co. were using plasticizer dehp in clouding agents the firms manufactured. this was used as a substitute for palm oil in clouding agents as a way to keep cost down and improve profits. however, wei te chemical co., a manufacturer of clouding agents, claims that "the reason most businesses tended to utilize illegal clouding agents was not because of price, but rather the long preservation periods and esthetically pleasing effect of using dehp-laced products." near the end of may 2011, the government of the republic of china had begun seizures of contaminated products and announced a ban from exporting. later, the list for government safety checks was extended to syrups, tablets, pastries, and powders. by 27 may 2011, "up to 465,638 bottles of dehp-tainted beverages have been pulled out from store shelves. also, up to 270,822 boxes and 68,924 packs of powdered probiotics and 28,539 kilos of fruit juices, fruit jam, powder and syrup, and yoghurt powder have been removed from shelves", according to ecowaste coalition and a report from taiwan's food and drug administration (fda). as of mid-june, there are roughly 900 products which have been recalled from nearly 40,000 taiwanese retailers. some media reports, including in the economist, conclude that taiwan's former reputation as a reliable and safe food manufacturing country has been damaged. taiwanese prosecutors alleges that one of the company yu shen at the centre of the crisis has used 5 tonnes of dehp every month to manufacture clouding agents which is supplied to food processing firms and pastry shops. there were 95 taiwanese manufacturers which had used the dehp ingredient. a further 244 ingredient manufacturing firms had also used the dehp. domestic ma ying-jeou has said that the government health units have launched the nation's largest-ever action to secure food safety by checking up to 16,000 food makers and outlets and removing from sales stands over 20,000 food and beverage items suspected of being contaminated with dehp. health officials have inspected over 14,000 food vendors and stores around the island, taking over 20,000 products off shelves. ma has been criticized by the opposition dpp for his handling of the scandal. opposition spokesperson lin yu-chang pushed the ma ying-jeou administration to come out with a new "d-day" to combat the national plasticizer scare. the kmt criticized the dpp for their inability to detect dehp while it was in power. they pointed out that dpp legislator huang sue-ying spoke against placing dehp on the epa's class-1 control list of toxic substances. kmt legislator chiu yi also alleged that the dpp had ties with the owner of the yu shen company, lai chun-chieh. lai's son also claimed on his facebook that dehp was not responsible for cancer, contrary to studies that show otherwise. international chinese mainland authorities banned 812 products from the original list of 22 from taiwan. this include sports drinks, tea, jam, juices, and other beverages. china later upgraded the banned list to cover 1004 products. in hong kong, authorities started monitoring its residents for contamination. they banned two types of taiwanese sports beverage called speed. hong kong's health secretary york chow stated that because the ingestion of the carcinogen will be a health risk, he supported an outright ban of the dehp agent. in neighboring macau, health authorities found the antacid scrat suspension was tested positive for dibp who later issued a notice of recall to local importers and pharmacies. standard chem＆pharm had notified its retailers to pull the product off the shelves in taiwan and macau. malaysian authorities found some bubble tea products were contaminated with dehp and the importers were instructed to halt importation and ceased distribution of the products in malaysia. authorities in the philippines banned dehp affected products and carried out investigations of importers to ensure affected products were recalled. vietnam and south korea both banned affected taiwanese products from importation. in the united states, california-based 99 ranch market, one of the largest asian grocery chains in the country, removed plasticizer-contaminated beverages imported from taiwan, off store shelves. 2013: cooking oil adulteration and mislabeling in october 2013, a scandal broke out in taiwan regarding the presence of chlorophyllin in cooking oil. subsequent investigations unearthed widespread adulteration and mislabeling amongst cooking oil products sold in taiwan. the resulting scandal affected many products, even outside cooking oil, such as health pills, alcoholic beverages, milk and rice. chang chi foodstuff factory co. chang chi foodstuff factory co. (chinese: 大統長基) was found to have used copper chlorophyllin, an illegal coloring agent for cooking oil, in its olive oil and have adulterated its higher-end cooking oil with cheaper cottonseed oil. the company was fined nt$ 28.6 million in accordance to the act governing food sanitation after authorities have found that their products had been adulterated. in december 2013 company chairman kao chen-li was sentenced to sixteen years in prison for his role in the scandal. the company was also mandated to pay a further nt$50 million fine. a nt$1.85 billion fine levied by the changhua county public health bureau was annulled in july 2014 because kao and two other company executives had already been jailed. kao tsung-hsien of the ministry of health and welfare's administrative appeal committee stated: given that the changhua district court has handed down a punishment against the company’s chairman, kao cheng-li , the committee members decided to cancel the nt$1.85 billion fine in accordance with article 26 of the administrative penalty act.— flavor full food inc. flavor full food inc. (chinese: 富味鄉食品股份有限公司) was accused of blending cheaper cottonseed oil into more expensive cooking oils to increase their profit. on 26 october 2013, the company admitted of their wrongdoings through health officials. the company had adulterated 24 of its products sold in taiwan with cheaper cottonseed oil, and also added flavoring agents to one of its peanut oil products. the company had been fined nt$ 8 million for 25 violations. the former chairman and his brother were each sentenced to sixteen months in prison and ordered to pay nt$25 million in september 2014. the company itself was ordered to pay a further nt$5 million fine. formosa oilseed processing co. formosa oilseed processing co. (chinese: 福懋油) was found to intentionally mislabel their six cooking oil mixtures as pure olive oils. the company general manager issued an apology saying that the company will stop selling the small-package olive oil. the company was fined nt$ 15 million. geneherbs biotechnology co. the weight-loss pills manufactured by the geneherbs biotechnology co. (chinese: 菁茵荋生物科技) were found to contain unauthorized drugs. the pills product called the wellslim plus+ contains cetilistat, a lipase inhibitor designed to treat obesity. sing-lin foods corporation in early november, sodium copper chlorophyllin was found on wu mu (chinese: 五木) steamed spinach ramen noodles brand manufactured by sing-lin foods corporation (chinese: 興霖). taisun enterprise co. on 20 november 2013, the food and drug administration of ministry of health and welfare confirmed the grapeseed oil made by taisun enterprise co. (chinese: 泰山) contains the prohibited food additive copper chlorophyllin complex. ta lien alcohol company the contents of 11 out of 12 alcohol products manufactured by ta lien alcohol company (chinese: 大聯製酒工業公司) were found not to match the ingredients listed on their labels as announced by the department of finance of changhua county government on 28 october 2013. the company was fined nt$ 5.5 million. ting hsin international group the chairman of ting hsin international group (chinese: 頂新集團) was indicted in early november 2013 on fraud charges because of mislabeling products and violating the act governing food sanitation in connection to adulterated oil purchased from chang chi foodstuff factory co. wei chuan food corp wei chuan food corp (chinese: 味全食品) were found to be involved in an adulterated cooking oil scandal. the chairman of the company offered a public apology during a press conference on 5 november 2013. domestic responses roc president – on 23 october 2013, president ma ying-jeou pledged to strengthen inspection on food and beverage manufacturers and severely punish those with altered food products. he also ordered the ministry of health and welfare to hold a national food safety conference in november 2013 to address the issues. executive yuan – the executive yuan had announced that it is setting up a joint food safety inspection and control team between the yuan and ministry of health and welfare and council of agriculture. roc ministry of health and welfare (mohw) – on 23 october 2013, minister chiu wen-ta said that he took full responsibility for cracking down the 'black-hearted' food suppliers. food and drug administration (fda) – on 29 october, deputy head wu hsiu-ying said that the mohw had drafted law amendments to increase penalties for any food fraud. the maximum fines would be increased, while the minimum fines would remain the same. fda is also seeking heavier criminal penalties for manufacturers of adulterated or counterfeit food by longer prison serving duration. rewards will also be given to any whistle blower exposing food fraud within his/her company. deputy minister shiu ming-neng held an interim press conference on 30 october 2013. there is a list of 37 cooking oil products in which he would ask the mohw officials to go to those manufacturers and conduct investigation because of being suspected to contain fatty acid issues. the list consists of taisun enterprise co. (chinese: 泰山), ting hsin international group (chinese: 頂新集團) and taiwan sugar corporation (chinese: 台糖). roc minister of economic affairs (moea) – vice minister woody duh said that the moea industrial development bureau is reviewing the good manufacturing practice (gmp) system and might require a manufacturer to present its export and import invoices and declarations and to allow on-the-spot inspection for its production line when it seek certification. he said that the moea will ensure that the gmp is a guarantee for safety, and without it consumers will be exposed more to unsafe foods. roc environmental protection administration – minister stephen shen said on 28 october that he would instruct local cleaning squads to accept and recycle oil bottles that still contain the adulterated oil. democratic progressive party – former chairman shih ming-teh said on 24 october 2013 that he and his friends would file a class-action lawsuit against flavor full food inc. to seek compensation over its adulterated oil products because his household's organic sesame oil was all from the company. any compensation he receives from the lawsuit will be donated to charity organizations. china in mainland china, a food distributor in fujian filed a lawsuit against chang chi foodstuff factory co. to seek damages for compensation. xiamen had ordered 40,000 liters of cooking oil made by chang chi foodstuff factory co. to be removed from shelves and stepped up inspections on edible oil products purchased from taiwan. singapore singaporean food suppliers that source from taiwan cooking oil companies involved in the food scandal were ordered to hold their shipping by the government of singapore on 22 october 2013. united states in united states, stores removed all taiwanese foods tainted by the chemicals and other questionable products off the shelves. 2014: gutter oil incident the 2014 taiwan food scandal refers to a series of food safety incidents in taiwan that came to light in 2014. adulteration of cooking oil with recycled waste oil and animal feed oil was discovered in september 2014. despite coming to light only in 2014, mass food adulteration by taiwanese food conglomerates, however, has been suppressed for decades, and the food safety crisis has been among the reasons for the electoral defeat of the kuomintang in late 2014. at least 1,256 businesses were