Taiwan’s Tangled Egg Tale: Unraveling the Controversy Over Imported and Mislabeled Eggs

Taiwan’s Tangled Egg Tale: Unraveling the Controversy Over Imported and Mislabeled Eggs

Imported Eggs Mislabeled as ‘Made in Taiwan’

The New Taipei City Health Bureau has recently been investigating the distribution of imported eggs. It found that the ‘Fushangsheng Egg Products Company’, an egg liquid processing factory, had been purchasing imported egg products from countries such as Turkey, Brazil, and the United States. These imported eggs, they discovered, were then mixed with domestic eggs to make egg liquid, and illegally labeled as ‘Made in Taiwan’.

Further investigation revealed that this business had shipped to Taipei City and the products were used by caterers to prepare meals for summer tutoring classes. The information has since been forwarded to New Taipei for further investigation.

How the Mislabeling was Discovered

The Taipei City Health Bureau conducted inspections on caterers within its jurisdiction and found that some businesses had used the aforementioned batch of products in August to prepare meals for summer tutoring classes. The Health Bureau has stated that it will continue to inspect businesses that use large quantities of egg products, including grocery stores, breakfast shops, bakery industries, group meal companies, and more. The results of these inspections will be made public on the bureau’s website.

(Read Also: China’s Ambition: A High-Speed Rail Linking Fujian and Taiwan)

The Extent of the Mislabeling

‘Fushangsheng Egg Products Company’ had purchased a total of three batches of imported egg products from the Central Livestock Association from Turkey, Brazil, and the United States. These were then mixed with domestic eggs between June and August, resulting in a total of 29,740 kilograms of unpasteurized egg liquid. This company is suspected of falsely labeling the origin of the egg liquid as ‘Taiwan’ and shipping it to food businesses in northern cities and counties. This false labeling is considered fraud, and the Health Bureau will impose a fine of between 60,000 and 200 million New Taiwan dollars in violation of the Food Safety Act.

Information Gap and Ongoing Investigation

The Health Bureau emphasized that it had obtained information from the Central Livestock Association through the Taipei City Government Health Bureau. However, the information only contained a list of OEM manufacturers. After comparison, it matched the list that New Taipei City had inspected itself. The Central Livestock Association still had not provided important sales direction and quantity information. The Health Bureau will continue to keep in close contact with Taipei City and other counties and cities to grasp relevant information for the ongoing investigation.

(Read Also: Taiwan Rejects China’s Economic Integration Plan Amid Rising Tensions)