TAIPEI, Taiwan – Officials seized over 50,000 kilograms of expired produce after raiding two Kaohsiung food suppliers on Wednesday.
The haul, which included several boxes of 11-year-old frozen shrimp, was held by the two companies with the intent of selling it to restaurants.
A day ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival weekend, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – in a joint operation with the Kaohsiung City Government’s Health Department and the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office – raided the two food suppliers.
The owner of both firms later admitted to selling out-of-date food with fake expiry-date labels.
The FDA’s team uncovered the expired and unlabeled frozen food at cold storage facilities owned by Bai Xian Wu Enterprise Co. Ltd. and rented by Yen Jing International Pty Ltd’s.
According to the FDA, the two companies are affiliates run by Wu Wei-chi.
Wu admitted wrongdoing and was released on bail Wednesday.
According to prosecutors, up to 51,358 kilograms of frozen food without clear expiry date labels had been confiscated by officials.
The seized goods also included approximately 7,000 kilograms of mushrooms, frozen soft shell crabs, cod and vegetable balls ready for sale to restaurants in Kaohsiung, Tainan, Taichung and Chiayi.
The Kaohsiung City Health Department ordered downstream companies supplied by Bai Xian Wu and Yen Jing International not to use or sell the products they had received.
Fraud, Breach of Food Safety
The case is now in the hands of the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office, who will look at potential violations of the Food Safety Act and the Criminal Code, officials said.
A total of 11 suspects, including Wu, had been brought in for further questioning, officers said.
The two companies could face a fine of between NT$60,000 (S$2,580) to NT$200 million if found guilty, while the companies could also be handed a one-year operations ban.
According to the National Police Agency, the Bai Xian Wu Enterprise had raked in over NT$500,000 in the past two years from selling expired goods.
In a bid to ensure food safety and to build a food safety network in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival weekend, the FDA, along with local health bureaus and the National Police Agency, have upped efforts to crack down on illegal food safety activities.
