Prosecutors indict 10 for selling expired eggs

The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted 10 people from three companies, including one of Taiwan’s largest egg producers, on charges of conspiring to sell expired and mislabeled liquid eggs.

The indictment said that the CEO of Taiwan’s second-largest egg producer, Rui Mu Foods Co, surnamed Wu (吳), conceived the scheme to use up large quantities of expired eggs the company had in storage, some of which were already noticeably rotten.

Wu asked two subordinates to have two egg processing firms — Chung Yi Agricultural Products Co and Xin Ying Egg Products Technology Co — process the expired eggs into liquid eggs between March and October last year, the indictment said.

Photo: Yu Ruei-ren, Taipei Times

After receiving the finished product, Rui Mu Foods sold the expired liquid eggs to be used in baked goods and restaurants, prosecutors said.

Separately, prosecutors indicted the owner of Chung Yi Agricultural Products, also surnamed Wu (吳) and whose firm had been commissioned to process fresh eggs imported by the National Animal Industry Foundation from Brazil and Thailand into liquid eggs amid a nationwide egg shortage last year.

In September last year, the Chung Yi owner used mixed batches of imported and domestic eggs to make liquid eggs labeled as “made in Taiwan,” while also illegally adding seven days to their expiration date, prosecutors said.

The 10 suspects are charged with selling adulterated and expired foods under the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), while three or more of the suspects were also charged aggravated fraud, falsifying business records and false labeling of merchandise under the Criminal Code.

Prosecutors also submitted a request to seize NT$42.91 million (US$1.33 million) in illicit profits from the three companies, including NT$40.03 million from Rui Mu Foods.