Information provided by the Executive Yuan's Office of Food Safety (OFS) helped Yunlin County law enforcement officials and regulators yesterday to intercept a supply of illegally produced food and drugs.
Last December, the OFS was informed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that a private citizen had reported that the Newai Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd. and its affiliate biotechnology firm were manufacturing and selling unregistered and unapproved tablets and capsules.
After checking the tip and Newai Chemical's past violations, the OFS referred the case to the Yunlin District Prosecutors Office, which launched an interagency investigation. On March 25, the Bureau of Investigation's Yunlin station in conjunction with the FDA and local health regulators inspected the company premises, the owner's residence as well as Newai's downstream businesses. They uncovered unapproved food tablets and capsules and large amounts of counterfeit drugs, all of which are suspected of being in violation of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation and the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.
Because Newai Chemical had in the past committed many violations of the Good Manufacturing Practices for drugs, it had already been ordered by the FDA to cease production of all is Western medicinal products from December 20, 2013 onward. Although it failed to pass re-inspection, it was still found to be producing and selling the drugs illegally.
In September 2014, health authorities raided Newai Chemical once again and discovered that its affiliated biotech company was manufacturing and selling uninspected, unregistered vitamin-related products. Newai, defying the order to recall and destroy the vitamins, hid them in a private residence in Tainan City instead and lied to health authorities in March 2014 that the products had all been destroyed. It is fortunate that officials detected the operation and prevented the illegal products from entering the market, the Executive Yuan said.
Reiterating its determination to fight food safety crimes, the Executive Yuan called on the general public to refrain from purchasing food items and medications of unknown origin. Consumers should also note whether the product's packaging, labeling or contents show any traces of abnormality. The Executive Yuan hopes more people can step forward to report illegal activities, and join forces with the government to ensure food safety and safeguard the health of citizens.