Cooking oil investigation releases initial findings

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday released the findings of an independent investigation into the cause of carcinogen benzopyrene contamination in seven batches of cooking oil produced by Central Union Oil Corp.The contamination came to light last month after soybean-based cooking oil produced by the company was found to contain excessive levels of benzopyrene, a Group 1 carcinogen classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as substances with sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans. More than 13,000 businesses were affected.Presenting the investigation results at a FDA news conference, Minister Without Portfolio Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said the contamination resulted from a combination of management failures, including inadequate controls for high-ri