In July 2026, a major food safety scandal erupted in Taiwan that Central Union Oil Corp. distributed 1,300 metric tons of soy-based cooking oil contaminated with dangerous levels of a carcinogen. Similar food and oil safety crisis happened in 10 years ago. History replays itself: the following content is the timeline of the old incident!
(2002) Ting Hsin Group, founded by four WEI brothers from Taiwan—Wei Yingzhou, Wei Yingjiao, Wei Yingchong, and Wei Yingxing—introduced the [Master Kong Instant Noodles] brand to Taiwan, with most products outsourced to [Wei Chuan subsidiaries].
(2005) Ting Hsin Group acquired (CHENG I FOOD LTD), a well-known oil processing company in Taiwan.
(10/17/2008) Ting Hsin's [Wei Chuan Company], through a Hong Kong agent, exported infant formula to mainland China mainland was found to contain a 'false positive' of Enterobacter sakazakii.
(12/08/2009) Ting Hsin Group donated 50 million yuan to the Fire Protection Development Foundation and contributed a large amount of political donations to establish close ties with senior Kuomintang officials. At that time, Wang Jin-pyng, President of the Legislative Yuan, was the president of the Firefighters Association.
(08/01/2011? Approximate date) In the 2012 presidential election, Wei Ying-chung served as vice president of the 'National Business Groups Support Ma-Wu Support Association' as chairman of the Food GMP Association, and was reported by Taiwanese media to claim Ting Hsin donated 1 billion NTD. Ma Ying-jeou's campaign team only reported 440 million. Half of the donations went missing.
(02/08/2013) Ma Ying-jeou once met with the four WEI brothers at the Presidential Palace.
(11/03/2013) The Changhua District Prosecutors Office sentenced Wei Yingchong to three years in prison for tax evasion in Ting Hsin's 2013 Datong blended oil case, with a fine of 3,285,000 yuan commutable to the penalty.
(01/01/2012 - 7/30/2014) Ting Hsin Oil Company purchased over 5,800 tons of raw oil (feed oil for fowls) from Vietnam's Da Phu Company 44 times at about 30 NTD per kilogram, refined it into edible oil, and sold it to downstream manufacturers and consumers, illegally profiting over 100 million NTD. Strangely, the Taipei City Health Bureau did not find any non-compliant food issues. External estimates suggest at least two possibilities: one is that the Health Bureau did not regularly spot check food samples and conduct tests. The second possibility is that Ting Hsin Oil Company replaced the food oil samples with qualified ones before the Health Bureau personnel arrived. Alternatively, they deliberately had health bureau personnel inspect and test the samples they provided. The third possibility is the worst case: health bureau personnel were corrupt and dereliction of duty (however, for various reasons, sufficient evidence was not collected to prove embezzlement)!
(09/04/2014) Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare's Food and Drug Administration announced that Qiangguan Company purchased waste oil and sour oil from the "Pingtung Guoliecheng Factory," mixing 33% inferior oil with 67% lard, and producing "Quantong Xiang Lard" oil. Many well-known downstream manufacturers won bids to use Qiangguan Company's substandard oils, including Ting Hsin Group's Wei Chuan Company. That evening, the Taipei City Health Department announced that 12 processed products made by Wei Chuan Company, including meat sauce and meat crisps, must be reported, sealed, and preventively removed from shelves. The Health Bureau urges food businesses to proactively stop manufacturing, processing, selling, and recycling processed products made from 【Quantong Xiang Lard】, and to notify the Health Bureau for inventory and distribution.
What’s truly baffling is that this case caused a huge uproar in Taiwan, yet overseas Chinese media and government health departments had no corresponding food safety follow-up. In the U.S., apart from the tabloid The Epoch Times covering it, mainstream Chinese American media, including World Journal, didn’t report a single article about such a severe food safety issue. Many Chinese people in North America had no idea about the risk. The problem is, Master Kong instant noodles and Wei Chuan brand canned goods from Taiwan are staple foods in many Chinese supermarkets in North America. Later, when we asked the U.S. health authorities, we were told an even more shocking truth: the U.S. health authorities simply don’t have the resources to inspect non-mainstream imported foreign products. In simple terms, for minority foods coming from abroad, the U.S. government doesn’t test or verify their ingredients!!! (As far as we know, most Western countries' governments operate in the same way, so be careful!)
(09/09/2014) After the Chang Guoan rancid oil scandal broke, Taiwan’s prosecutors and investigators began strictly tracing the distribution of recalled oil and investigating the source of Ting Hsin’s oil products. As a result, they discovered a Vietnamese feed oil supplier—Da Xing Fu Company. Suspiciously, this company is not an edible oil company.
(10/09/2014) Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare received a document from Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce confirming that Ting Hsin purchased pig feed oil from Vietnam’s Da Xing Fu Company, not edible oil. This is how the shocking fake oil scandal was exposed both in Taiwan and abroad. On 10/30, six people from Ting Hsin, including Wei Ying-chung, were indicted by the Changhua District Prosecutors Office for fraud, document forgery, and other charges.
(11/27/2015) The first-instance verdict for the Ting Hsin substandard oil case was announced by the Changhua District Court, and all six defendants, including Wei Ying-chung, were acquitted. The ruling sparked an uproar in Taiwan’s public opinion and society! People commented, "Justice is dead!" The Changhua District Prosecutors Office continued to pursue an appeal.
(04/27/2018) After two years of trial, and with new evidence provided by the prosecution, former Ting Hsin chairman Wei Ying-chung was sentenced to 15 years in prison (originally 30), former general manager Chang Mei-feng got 8 years and 6 months, succeeding general manager Chen Mao-jia 11 years and 6 months, Da Xing Fu’s head Yang Zhen-yi 8 years and 6 months, while former Pingtung plant director Zeng Qi-ming and quality control leader Cai Jun-yong were acquitted. Ting Hsin was fined NT$250 million. Wei Ying-chung went to prison immediately.
(11/06/2019) Taiwan’s Supreme Court sentenced Wei Ying-chung on 26 charges (totaling 5 years and 9 months, some of which could be converted to fines), while the remaining 45 charges were sent back for retrial. Wei Ying-chung went to prison again.
(07/29/2022) Ting Hsin Oil & Fat Company chairman Wei Ying-chung was charged with 71 crimes; 26 were confirmed, while the remaining 45 had a first-instance retrial verdict of 9 years and 2 months in prison. Wei Ying-chung will go to prison for the third time. Wei Ying-chung, along with Ting Hsin Oil’s then-general manager Chen Mao-jia and former general manager Chang Mei-feng, knowingly used oil from Vietnam’s Da Xing Fu that had high acid values and exceeded lead content, lacking quality suitable for consumption. They were convicted in the Taichung High Court’s second instance for violating the Food Safety Law. The Supreme Court also notified the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office to implement anti-escape measures against Wei Ying-chung.
Brands under the Ting Hsin Group (for reference):
Food Industry: Tianjin Tingyi International Food Co., Ltd., all companies in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan with the 'Master Kong' brand, all companies in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan with the 'Wei Chuan' brand, Shun Sheng Industrial Co., Ltd. (Lin Feng Ying Farm), Jiangmen Tingyi Food Co., Ltd., Youle instant ramen.
Grain & Oil Industry: Ting Shen Trading Co., Ltd., Golden Earth Company
Service Industry: BreadTalk Co., Ltd., Dicos (Western fast food in China), Dicos Co., Ltd., Taiwan Ting Chiao Catering Business Co., Ltd., Niu Le Ting BBQ, Chengmei Cultural Park, Chengmei Gongtang, He De Yuan, Ju Lu Tang, Ru Xue Yuan, Ting Hsin Noodle Museum.
(Here, we're focusing on food safety issues. The group is also involved in other industries, which are not listed here)