By Hollie Younger / Staff writer, with CNA
The Consumer Protection Association in Taiwan (CPAT) today said it is accepting applications from schools to join a record-high NT$6 billion (US$185.94 million) class-action lawsuit against companies responsible for a contaminated cooking oil scandal earlier this month.
The Food and Drug Administration yesterday confirmed that seven batches of raw soybean cooking oil produced by Central Union Oil Corp (中聯油脂) from April to last month were found to have excessive levels of the carcinogen benzopyrene.
The lawsuit, being brought against Central Union Oil, Taisun Enterprise Co (泰山企業), Fwusow Industry Co (福壽實業) and Formosa Oilseed Processing Co (福懋油脂), is on behalf of schools, teachers and students nationwide, the association said.
Photo courtesy of the Kaohsiung Department of Health
Application forms would be available to download from the association’s official Web site, with schools and school-contracted meal service providers eligible to submit applications until Oct. 30, it said.
The contaminated oil was used in school lunches and served to large numbers of students, CPAT vice chairman Lin Chi-hsiang (林祺祥) said.
Schools would be asked to compile lists of affected students and teachers alongside supporting evidence before submitting materials to the association, which would then handle the subsequent legal proceedings, he added.
The litigation would be based on a previous lawsuit against Ting Hsin Oil and Fat Industrial Co (頂新製油實業), which was involved in a tainted oil scandal exposed in 2013, he said.
In 2015, CPAT filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of more than 90 schools and about 20,000 students affected by the incident, seeking NT$3.7 billion in damages, CPAT deputy secretary-general Huang Yi-yao (黃琞傜) said.
This time, more than 1,000 schools are believed to have been affected, he said, adding that the compensation sought is expected to set a record.
Dining and Cooking