Health Minister Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said Tuesday, July 14, that products made by Central Union Oil Corporation may only return to shelves if both upstream and raw materials and downstream products pass inspections. This statement follows a precautionary recall ordered by the Taiwan FDA for all oil products by the major domestic oil producer between April and June, after five batches were found to be contaminated.

Last week’s recall follows the detection of excessive levels of group 1 carcinogen, Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in the producer’s soybean oil. Deputy FDA Director-General Wang Te-yuan (王德原) said authorities have traced the distribution of affected products and will enforce comprehensive inspections within one week under strengthened management measures. According to the FDA, Central Union Oil Corporation produced 29 batches during the period. Three undistributed batches met the safety standards, while five batches already failed downstream testing and have been fully removed.

Shih said inconsistencies between upstream and downstream test results prompted expanded checks. He stated, “We will examine 52 retained samples from Taisun Enterprise, Formosa Taffeta Co., and Fwusow Industry Corp. one by one, and compare them with about 321 downstream product samples. If any batch traces back to the same problematic source, all related products will be barred from sale, consistent with the handling of the earlier five batches.”