Company vows to pay consumers over recall
By Li Xinran |
September 7, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AN edible oil manufacturer in central China's Hunan Province has promised full compensation to customers for carrying out a secret recall of several of its products containing excessive amounts of a cancer-promoting substance.
Liu Xianghao, chairman of the Jinhao Camellia Oil Co Ltd, in Hunan's Qiyang County, apologized to the public in an open letter released yesterday over the health risks posed by some of the company's products, as well as for its cover-up as an infringement of their right to know.
Liu, who founded the company, assumed personal blame in the letter and promised on behalf of his firm to ensure the recall is as complete as possible, as well as to compensate for damages to customers' health.
He emphasized that improved processes and equipment have solved the quality defect.
Jinhao has admitted that nine batches, or 42 tons, of its camellia seed cooking oil made between December and March contained excessive amounts of benzo(a)pyrene, a cancer-causing substance - something it had vehemently denied two weeks earlier.
The company said it knew about the problem in March, when local quality inspectors seized 22.4 tons in the Jinhao warehouse.
Jinhao secretly recalled the oil from the market but never issued any public warning.
Local government knew all about the recall but kept quiet about it, reported Century Weekly magazine.
A senior official told the weekly the cover-up was a way to safeguard social stability because people's livelihoods depend on grain and oil.
News about its tainted oil has been swirling online since early August, but the company made a statement on August 20 saying the allegations were "ridiculous rumors" from competitors.
Liu Xianghao, chairman of the Jinhao Camellia Oil Co Ltd, in Hunan's Qiyang County, apologized to the public in an open letter released yesterday over the health risks posed by some of the company's products, as well as for its cover-up as an infringement of their right to know.
Liu, who founded the company, assumed personal blame in the letter and promised on behalf of his firm to ensure the recall is as complete as possible, as well as to compensate for damages to customers' health.
He emphasized that improved processes and equipment have solved the quality defect.
Jinhao has admitted that nine batches, or 42 tons, of its camellia seed cooking oil made between December and March contained excessive amounts of benzo(a)pyrene, a cancer-causing substance - something it had vehemently denied two weeks earlier.
The company said it knew about the problem in March, when local quality inspectors seized 22.4 tons in the Jinhao warehouse.
Jinhao secretly recalled the oil from the market but never issued any public warning.
Local government knew all about the recall but kept quiet about it, reported Century Weekly magazine.
A senior official told the weekly the cover-up was a way to safeguard social stability because people's livelihoods depend on grain and oil.
News about its tainted oil has been swirling online since early August, but the company made a statement on August 20 saying the allegations were "ridiculous rumors" from competitors.
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