The Ministry of Health and Welfare has promised to issue three reports concerning tainted edible oils by Friday. That’s after the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee threatened not to review the ministry’s budget.
The tainted edible oil scandal that broke out in mid-September has snowballed into a food safety crisis in Taiwan.
While newly-appointed Health Minister Chiang Been-huang earlier promised to complete checks on 27 edible oil manufacturers, new scandals have continued to surface.
There have been rumors that coconut oil Uni-President purchased from the scandal-ridden food maker Ting Hsin International Group and lard that the instant noodle company Weilih bought from an edible oil supplier are both substandard products.
Opposition lawmaker Chen Chieh-ju has accused the ministry of doing a poor job.
“The ministry should conduct checks on these oils," said Chen.M"ore than 3,000 units were consumed in eight years. Some were imports, others were locally-manufactured. The [tainted] products have all been turned into edible oils. The ministry must find out which of these products are still available on the market.”