Ting Hsin shuts down factories after new allegations
Boycott against Ting Hsin and Wei Chuan expands, China stops juice import
Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Central News Agency (2014-10-11 21:03:13)
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Ting Hsin International chief Wei Ying-chung announced Saturday the factories involved in the latest cooking oil scandal would be shut down after allegations the company imported animal feed oil from Vietnam.
It was Wei’s first public appearance since he resigned from the chairmanship of three Ting Hsin affiliates involved in the scandal earlier in the week. The group faces consumer boycotts and a ban on its products at schools after it was named in three cooking oil scandals within the past year.
Wei offered apologies in Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese and broke down several times. He apologized to consumers, company staff, shareholders and the government, and even to his brothers. Wei is one of four brothers who run a vast empire which does not only include prominent food brands, but also Taipei 101.
Wei announced the closure of the Cheng I Food Co. and Ting Hsin Oil and Fat Industrial factories, but the 260 employees affected would be able to work at other group locations. The two company CEOs, who flanked him at the news conference, would resign, he said. According to reports, whoever would succeed Wei as the new chairman of group companies would not be surnamed Wei but be a professional manager.
In an online statement, former Democratic Progressive Party Chairman Su Tseng-chang condemned the news conference as an empty show and accused Wei of trying to escape his responsibility.
The latest allegation against the group was that its Ting Hsin Oil and Fat Industrial Co. had imported oil from Vietnam for animal feed but changed the labels to make it appear fit for human consumption, a change which could lead to forgery charges.
The report was confirmed by Vietnam’s Ministry of Trade and Industry after a request from Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration. A total of 358 tons of lard at a facility in Pingtung County were being checked by food inspectors, but some had already been turned into ten types of cooking oil, reports said.
The Vietnamese product had been used to manufacture 31 types of lard oil last year and 23 types this year, the FDA said. Ting Hsin was the major importer of the oil products into Taiwan and had done so for several years. Because cooking oil could be sold for a year, all related products dating back to last October would have to be removed from sale, up to an estimated total of 3,646 metric tons.
The scandal even expanded to China Saturday with reports that the city of Xiamen had stopped and returned 19,650 boxes of Ting Hsin’s Wei Chuan fruit juices and drinks worth an estimated NT$4.8 million (US$160,000). The company said it was setting up a council of food safety advisers and a second test laboratory in Yunlin County.
At a special news conference Saturday morning, Premier Jiang Yi-huah said the government crackdown would not spare any violators, how large their market share or size might be, and that if the action provoked a lard oil shortage, he would open up the market to imports.
Jiang warned the removal of tainted products from shelves could drastically expand next week from the more than 300 food companies which were believed to have bought and used tainted oil from Cheng I. A ream of Taiwan’s most prominent food brands have admitted they bought edible oil from the company, especially after its main rival, Chang Guann Co., was found last month to have sold oil made from recycled kitchen waste.
The aim of the government campaign was to make sure that not a single food safety violator would be left, Jiang said. He came under fire after it was revealed that lawmakers had questioned the origin of Cheng I oil two weeks before the scandal broke, while Jiang at the time said there seemed to be no problem.
“What needs to be sealed, will be sealed, what needs to be raided, will be raided, who needs to be detained, will be detained,” Jiang said.
Prosecutors from Changhua County reportedly raided Wei’s premises in the area and the Neipu factory in Pingtung County. During the day, there were contradictory reports about whether the businessman had been barred from leaving the country. The Changhua prosecutors reportedly denied they had issued such an order, but later they found out that his movements were already restricted because he was listed as a defendant in last year’s food safety scandal.
Both private citizens and local governments have launched boycott campaigns against the group. Schools in two thirds of Taiwan’s cities and counties decided not to buy or sell products from Ting Hsin or from its high-profile Wei Chuan Foods Corp. affiliate.
The boycott also hit associated brands such as Matsusei supermarkets, Dicos fastfood and Lin Feng Ying dairy products, while other companies hastened to explain that Ting Hsin and Wei Chuan were not shareholders. Cable stations reported that the actions did not seem to affect the Taipei 101 shopping mall since most visitors were unaware of Ting Hsin’s stake in the iconic building.
