Taipei: Health Minister Shih Chung-liang stated Thursday that the suspected benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) contamination case involving camellia oil produced by a New Taipei-based company is not connected to the recent Central Union Oil Corp. scandal, with investigations still underway.

According to Focus Taiwan, Shih addressed the media at the Legislative Yuan, clarifying that the two incidents involved entirely different raw materials. He mentioned that Aconpure Green Technology Inc., the producer of the camellia oil, had already informed its downstream businesses to remove and recall the contaminated products. Shih refrained from providing additional details, emphasizing the ongoing nature of the investigation.

The New Taipei Department of Health released a statement Wednesday, noting that Aconpure had reported the previous day that a batch of its camellia oil was discovered to contain 2.9 micrograms per kilogram of BaP, surpassing Taiwan's legal threshold of 2 µg/kg. The department revealed that 5,024 bottles of the contaminated camellia oil were produced, with 939 bottles from two batches already sold. The remaining products were withheld from the market and secured in storage.

Department officials, along with representatives from the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA), conducted an on-site inspection, during which the TFDA collected five samples of camellia oil for testing. The department stated that subsequent actions will be determined legally based on the outcomes of those tests. It reminded food businesses to immediately halt sales of products if they pose potential health risks and to initiate recalls while notifying local health authorities. Non-compliance may result in fines ranging from NT$30,000 (US$941.08) to NT$3 million.

In a separate announcement, the TFDA highlighted that BaP is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compound produced during high-temperature cooking processes, such as frying and charcoal grilling, and is categorized as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Liu Fang-ming, director of the TFDA's Northern Taiwan Management Center, informed CNA that the camellia oil case is unrelated to the Central Union case, as the raw materials involved were distinct. The Central Union case concerned soybeans, whereas the Aconpure case involved camellia seeds, though both cases were linked to issues associated with the heating process.