Chang Chi boss released on bail of NT$12 million

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co (大統長基) chairman Kao Cheng-li (高振利), a central figure in the recent tainted oil controversy, was yesterday released on a NT$12 million (US$405,000) bail after a preliminary proceeding at the Changhua District Court.

Prosecutors demanded Kao be detained for not giving details about the origin of the copper chlorophyllin substance Kao’s company added to its oil products and to prevent possible collusion, but the court rejected the demand.

FDA confirms oil warning from Spain

‘NEXT’ ISSUE:：The FDA director said the agency had not been able to carry out tests on the Taisun Enterprise and Fwusow Industry products when Madrid notified Taipei
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer
Thu, Nov 14, 2013 - Page 1

The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday confirmed a media report that Spain had notified Taiwan as early as in 2009 about possible illicitly mixed oil products, but that officials did not take action at the time.

The Chinese-language Next Magazine edition published yesterday reported that the Spanish government notified Taiwan in 2009 and 2011 about some products manufactured by Taisun Enterprise Co (泰山企業) and Fwusow Industry (福壽油品) it suspected had been adulterated. The firms allegedly mixed imported olive pomace oil with other low-quality oil and sold the mix as pure olive oil.

Vendors, wholesalers ‘helpless’ amid food safety scare

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Vendors and wholesalers have been helpless and forgotten amid the snowballing controversies over tainted edible oil products and public concerns over food safety due to the government’s inaction, business owners told a press conference organized by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday.

“Thousands of vendors and wholesalers across the country have been on the ‘front line’ dealing with returned merchandise and refunds to consumers since the tainted oil controversy broke out, but we don’t know if we can get our money back from the upstream manufacturers,” store owner Chen Nian-tien (陳年添) told reporters.

Ting Hsin Group chairman released on NT$10m bail

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Ting Hsin International Group chairman Wei Ying-chun, center, leaves the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday morning, having been released on NT$10 million bail over his alleged role in the company’s use of adulterated oil.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times

Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) chairman Wei Ying-chun (魏應充) was indicted yesterday and released on NT$10 million (US$340,000) bail over allegations that his company had produced and marketed adulterated oil.

DPP urges minister to back up promise to remove oils

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday urged Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) to keep his promise that tainted oil products would be completely removed from the market beginning today.

“Chiu pledged on Oct. 24 that Nov. 8 would be ‘D-Day,’ with all tainted oil products removed from the market. If he has failed to deliver on that promise, we urge him to step down,” DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) told a press conference.

Ministry, DPP table food act revisions

DETERRING DANGER:：Both the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s and the DPP’s plans would impose harsher penalties for food safety violators in a bid to curb future scares
By Alison Hsiao and Chris Wang  /  Staff Reporters
Tue, Nov 05, 2013 - Page 1

The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday proposed increasing the maximum penalties for firms who adulterate food products with illicit substances or falsely advertise them, amid a snowballing controversy over adulterated edible oils.

In a report to the legislative plenary session, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) said he plans to strengthen the punitive measures by amending the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) to counteract illegal acts in the manufacturing and advertising of food products.

Lien Hui-hsin out on NT$2.5m bail

DEFENSE:Her father’s spokesperson defended her role at a firm that made dodgy weight-loss pills, adding that Lien Chan has been using the product for five years
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Lien Hui-hsin (連惠心), daughter of former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), was released on bail of NT$2.5 million (US$85,000) early yesterday morning after four hours of questioning at the Taipei Prosecutors’ Office about her role in a case involving her investment in a nutritional supplement company whose weight-loss pills were found to contain unauthorized drugs.

Lien Hui-hsin, who reported to the prosecutors’ office as a defendant at 7pm on Wednesday, did not answer media inquiries when she left the office at around 12:30am yesterday. Her lawyer Fang Wen-shuan (方文萱) said that Lien Hui-hsin was not aware of any wrongdoing by the company.

Lien Hui-hsin probed by prosecutors

HOT WATER:Former vice president Lien Chan’s daughter could face up to two years in jail for violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act if she is Geneherb’s chief executive
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Lien Hui-hsin (連惠心), daughter of former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), was listed as a defendant yesterday for her role in a case involving her investment in a nutrition supplement company whose weight-loss pills were found to contain unauthorized drugs.

Previously listed as a witness, Lien Hui-hsin was subpoenaed yesterday evening as a defendant by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office after days of speculation about her role at Geneherbs Biotechnology Co (菁茵荋生物科技), whose weight-loss product Wellslim Plus+ was confirmed to contain banned substance, cetilistat, a lipase inhibitor designed to treat obesity.

Lien defends daughter’s investment

SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIO:Lien Chan said he did not want any ‘improper influence’ in the probe of Geneherbs’ diet pills and that he had full confidence in his daughter
By Mo Yan-chih and Chris Wang  /  Staff reporters

Former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) yesterday defended his daughter Lien Hui-hsin’s (連惠心) investment in a nutrition supplement company whose weight-loss pills were found to contain unauthorized drugs, and said there may be political influence behind the investigation into the company.

Lien Hui-hsin on Sunday admitted she had invested in Geneherbs Biotechnology Co (菁茵荋生物科技). She had previously denied any involvement in the management of the firm.

Lawmakers blast NSC, GMP issuer

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday accused the National Science Council (NSC) of concealing information relating to the adulteration of edible oil for two years, and a non-profit company of malfeasance for issuing good manufacturing practice (GMP) certificates to the two companies at the center of the scandal — Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co (大統長基) and Flavor Full Food Inc (富味鄉).

A research project on sesame oil products sponsored by the council in 2011 found that four of the seven products on the market contained between 31 percent and 44 percent soybean oil, but the council did not disclose the full project report and has refused to provide details, DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) told a news conference.

Group urges checks on imported food

TRIED AND TESTED:The foundation said the number of samples of imported food from Japan tested for radiation contamination was significantly lower than in Hong Kong
By Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

The Homemakers United Foundation yesterday urged the government to enforce stricter radiation inspections on imported food.

The group issued the call following the confirmation by Tokyo Electric Power Co, operator of Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, that 300 tonnes of radiation-contaminated water from a steel tank had leaked into groundwater and possibly into the sea.

Make rabies cases national security issue, DPP urges

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday warned the government against taking a potential rabies outbreak lightly and urged the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to make it a national security issue.

DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) told a news conference that while no human infections have been reported so far, and only 14 out of 59 wild carnivorous animals have tested positive for the virus — which has been reported in Taiwan for the first time in more than 50 years — the government needs to take pre-emptive measures against the virus’ potential spread.

Hospital failed Chen: lawmakers

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Taichung Prison hospital failed to provide the necessary medical care to imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) before or after he attempted suicide on Sunday, lawmakers and Chen’s private medical team said yesterday.

The prison hospital did not send a physician to examine Chen until an hour after he was discovered trying to hang himself and the physician “was not aware of what had been going on,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) told a news conference.

Taipei issues food safety labels after inspections

STARCH SCARE:A Tainan noodle manufacturer said he did not know why his wares were removed from Singapore store shelves, saying they did not contain the tainted starch
By Mo Yan-chih and Chris Wang  /  Staff reporters

Taipei City’s Department of Health yesterday began issuing government-issued safety labels to vendors in food courts who passed inspections to make it easier for consumers to identify vendors whose food and beverages are free of maleic anhydride-modified industrial starch.

The heart-shaped labels are posted on top of the certifications as a double confirmation of the safety of food in the stores.

Department commissioner Lin Chi-hung (林奇宏) said city inspectors would affix the labels on the certifications during the inspections, and the move aimed to save consumers the trouble of reading the complicated certification, which should read “N.D.” (not detected) on the presence of maleic industrial starch in the food item.

Compensation for tainted food must improve: group

FOOD FIGHT:The Consumers’ Foundation called on the government to compensate consumers with the tainted foods’ profits, with the DPP also urging better monitoring
By Alison Hsiao and Chris Wang  /  Staff reporters

Ensuring food safety requires more than just recalling tainted products, the Consumers’ Foundation said yesterday, calling for more thorough compensation mechanisms following a recent string of food-related scandals.

In one such scandal, I-Mei Food Co was found to be using expired raw materials to produce cream puffs. The company promptly apologized and said consumers who had purchased the products could request a complete refund.

TSU urges protest over WHO listing

NAME CALLING:A WHO H7N9 virus update listing Taiwan as part of China not only slighted the nation’s sovereignty, but may hurt tourism, a TSU official said

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday urged the government to immediately lodge a protest with the WHO over its listing of Taiwan as part of China in the health organization’s update of H7N9 avian influenza cases.

“The practice was not surprising, as China has taken every opportunity to squeeze Taiwan’s international space and belittle Taiwan’s sovereignty,” TSU caucus whip Lin Shih-chia (林世嘉) told a press conference.

Treat flu as matter of national security: DPP

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The opposition yesterday urged the government to strengthen its efforts on epidemic prevention and to treat avian influenza as a matter of national security after the first human infection of H7N9 in Taiwan was confirmed on Wednesday.

The government has been slow in its preparation for the expected H7N9 case, despite Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers’ warnings, the DPP caucus told a press conference, where it issued a list of six demands.

US representative urges taking stand on Chen’s parole

By William Lowther  /  Staff reporter in WASHINGTON

A member of the US Congress is urging US Secretary of State John Kerry to “take a stance” on the treatment of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

“I believe it is the duty of the State Department, on behalf of the United States, to address Chen’s plight,” US Representative Robert Andrews said.

Filmmaker files suit over bird flu

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Citizen journalist and documentary filmmaker Kevin Lee (李惠仁) yesterday morning filed a lawsuit against eight government officials, including Council of Agriculture (COA) Minister Chen Bao-ji (陳保基), over the alleged cover-up of three recent avian flu outbreaks.

Lee’s lawsuit, filed at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, accuses incumbent and former council officials of malfeasance and document forgery in connection with three avian flu outbreaks last month and this month for reporting the highly pathogenic cases to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) as “of a low pathogenic level.”

A-bian has mental breakdown: doctor

‘QUITE DIFFICULT’:A psychiatrist on the former president’s medical team was quoted as saying Chen had tried to kill himself three times and that his recovery would be hard
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Hospitalized former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has suffered a nervous breakdown and should be removed from his current environment, which lacks the support mechanisms that patients with mental illnesses need to recover, a psychiatrist on Chen’s medical team said yesterday.

“The most ideal environment for Chen to make a full recovery would be his home, not the Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH), where he is currently staying to receive treatment … and definitely not Taipei Prison,” Mackay Memorial Hospital psychiatrist Chen Chiao-chi (陳喬琪) told the Taipei Times.