Taipei: The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday night fined Pingtung-based Pai Wei Foods Co. NT$54 million (US$1.75 million) for selling pork intestines that had been soaked in industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide. Wei Jen-ting, head of the FDA's southern management center, highlighted that the chemical used was clearly labeled "industrial-grade, not for food use," yet the company used it to make the intestines appear fresh and distributed them to intermediary buyers in Taoyuan, Taipei, Pingtung, and Kaohsiung.

According to Focus Taiwan, the FDA reported that 784 kilograms of bleached intestines were sold by Pai Wei Foods to downstream customers, while 2,430 kg were removed from the market before being sold. In addition, 12,604 kg of intestines were seized from Pai Wei Foods facilities, including 11,664 kg from the company's main location in Pingtung and another 940 kg from a storage site in New Taipei.

Pingtung prosecutors stated that the owner and four employees of Pai Wei Foods were questioned on Oct. 1 on suspicion of violations of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation and fraud under the Criminal Code. They were later released on pre-charge bail ranging from NT$80,000 to NT$500,000.

Lin Kuan-chen, head of the Taipei Department of Health's Food and Drug Division, mentioned that Taipei City, where Pai Wei Foods is registered, had ordered the company to suspend operations. It will only allow the company to resume business after submitting an improvement plan and passing a review by experts and the health department.