Taiwan detains gutter oil firm boss

Taiwanese authorities have detained Yeh Wen-Hsiang, head of cooking oil producer Chang Guann, which is at the centre of the gutter oil scandal sweeping Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong.
His deputy, Tai Chi-chuan, who was accused of collaborating with the owner of a Taiwanese edible oil recycling company, was also detained.
Taiwanese prosecutors have spoken to Mr Yeh regarding his role in the scandal. They suspected that he was aware of the tarnished oil and have asked the court to detain him in order to prevent him fleeing Taiwan.
Nevertheless, Yeh Wen-Hsiang insists that he is innocent and believes that the oil was safe for humans to consume.
He was even previously seen drinking  Chang Guann oil in front of the media, which was broadcast by the island’s television news networks.
So far, the tainted oil scandal has led to the implication of several prominent food producers in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, who were customers of Chang Guann.
Some of them, like the popular noodle brand Master Kong, have stated that the affected products were not sold in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing Man, said the HK government was negotiating with the catering industry to establish an accreditation system for using recycled cooking oils, so that only authorized bodies can trade recycled oils.
Chang Guann’s deputy Tai Chi-chuan is also suspected to have knowingly bought industrial lard oil from Hong Kong as the main ingredient of the company’s products.