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Critics demand apology from ‘fraudster’ Ting Hsin
By Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter
Renowned chef Cheng Yen-chi, better known as A-chi-shih, holds a press conference in Taipei yesterday in which he confirmed he had unknowingly used lard tainted with animal feed oil.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Several groups and prominent individuals yesterday demanded an apology from Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) over its involvement in three cooking oil scandals in one year, with some threatening a boycott of what they said is a “deceptive and unscrupulous” conglomerate.
National Federation of Teachers’ Unions president Chang Hsu-cheng (張旭政) described Ting Hsin International Group and its Wei Chuan Food Corp (味全) subsidiary as “a gang of fraudsters” who have repeatedly provided oil products of inferior quality to consumers.
“In a nutshell, they are black-hearted businesses against which I urge all the people of Taiwan to launch a boycott until they can no longer survive in the nation,” Chang said.
Chang made the remarks one day after the Greater Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office said that another Ting Hsin subsidiary, Cheng I Food Co (正義股份), might have mixed animal feed oil into a number of its cooking oil products. The suspect oil was bought from Hsin Hao Corp (鑫好企業), a one-man company based in Greater Kaohsiung, the office said.
Ting Hsin has been a magnet for criticism since it was found in November last year to have used adulterated oil from Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co (大統長基) in 21 products it manufactured for Wei Chuan Food.
Last month, Wei Chan became implicated in a separate oil scandal after 12 of its pork floss and meat paste products were discovered to contain Chang Guann Co’s (強冠企業) tainted lard oil that had been mixed with recycled cooking oil.
Consumers’ Foundation Secretary-General Lei Li-fen (雷立芬) urged the public to pressure Ting Hsin via a boycott if it refuses to allow buyers of its problematic products nationwide refunds and to offer them compensation of at least three times the price they paid.
“Past events have proven that Ting Hsin has a habit of concealing its irregularities. We, as consumers, must be aware of that and take disciplinary action against the company. Otherwise, it will only lapse into its old patterns time after time in the future,” Lei said.
Renowned chef Cheng Yen-chi (鄭衍基) — better known as A-chi-shih (阿基師) — yesterday also had strong words for Ting Hsin International Group chairman Wei Ying-chun (魏應充), after the hotel chain Fullon and Resorts (福容大飯店) where Cheng works as an executive chef was found to have unknowingly used lard tainted with animal feed oil.
“Chairman [Wei], we are both Taiwanese and we both came from Changhua County. I wonder how you sleep at night after causing such widespread unease in our society. Haven’t you seen the news?” Cheng said.
Cheng said he and Wei have been close acquaintances and that he had placed his trust in Ting Hsin, but added that he would have no choice but to “offend and displease” Wei if he fails to show sincerity and determination in running a socially responsible corporation.
Writer Chang Ta-chuen (張大春) called on Taiwanese to blacklist Ting Hsin and Wei Chuan indefinitely until they go bankrupt and shut down.
“As long as these two companies still stand, who will want to be Taiwanese?” Chang Ta-chuen said.
source: Taipei Times
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