TAIWAN | Oil maker fined heavily over tainted lard

Taiwan has fined a cooking oil supplier 50 million New Taiwan dollars (USD1.67 million) over its sale of tainted lard, the public health watchdog said yesterday.
The Public health authority in Kaohsiung slapped the charge on Chang Guann Co., a well established cooking oil supplier headquartered in the city, with related evidence handed to the judicial authority.
Taiwan has been in the grip of fear and anger since the island’s police busted a ring selling hundreds of tones of recycled cooking oil made from kitchen waste and grease from leather processing plants last week.
Chang Guann produced 782 tones of lard from the oil, before selling it on to 235 food companies and restaurants including leading brands such as Wei Chuan Corp and 85’C Bakery Cafe.
Some 1,020 retail businesses were identified as having used the oil, the public health watchdog said.
Public health authorities across Taiwan had tracked down 730 tones of tainted lard by yesterday afternoon, with 161 tones of oil inventories seized and 246 types of related food products removed from shelves.
The island’s administrative authority promised severe punishment for those involved.
Last October, olive oil in Taiwan was found to contain low quality substitutes and a banned coloring agent. Xinhua