Concerns over food safety build in Taiwan after scandals

The recent announcement by the Taiwanese government that a new task force would help stamp out food safety problems was greeted with scepticism by many of the island's consumers - after all they had heard such promises before.

"I don't know what to eat now," said Chen Miao-ling, 52, who recently lost her husband to liver cancer, an illness she thinks might be tied to the food they had eaten.

Chen was not alone in her apprehension; incidents involving food safety stretching back to the start of the year have stoked public fears that what they find on their supermarket shelves cannot be trusted.

The wave of scandals has battered the government's attempts to rebuild the island's reputation for strong quality control over its food manufacturing industry, following the revelation in 2011 that soft drink makers had used industrial plasticiser as a clouding agent in some of its products. The substitution saved them money on the more expensive palm oil, but the chemical can severely lead to health problems in children.

In the latest scare, health authorities on October 31 slapped a record fine of NT$1.85 billion (HK$487 million) on Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory for selling adulterated oil products.

The company had mixed olive oil with the cheaper cottonseed variety and, to make it look purer, began in 2006 to add a controlled colouring agent, copper chlorophyllin.

"We have been using the Tatung brand oil products [made by Chang Chi] for years, and I wonder if the death of my husband had anything to do with this," said Chen, whose husband died last year of liver cancer.