Taiwanese ‘gutter oil’ scandal spreads to Hong Kong, Macau

Pineapple buns and dumplings have been pulled from the shelves in Hong Kong as authorities check whether they contain what media are referring to as “gutter oil” that has sparked a growing regional food safety scare, officials said yesterday.

An investigation was launched after oil from a Taiwanese company accused of using illegally recycled products — including fat collected from grease traps — was exported to the territory.

Taiwanese authorities say a factory in Greater Kaohsiung illegally used 243 tones of tainted products to mix with lard oil in a case that has reignited regional concerns about food safety.

The lard oil — a clear oil pressed from pig fat — was supplied to at least 900 restaurants and bakeries in Taiwan. The owner of the factory was arrested on Sunday.

The scare has now spread to Hong Kong, with local chains forced to pull products from their shelves and experts ramping up spot checks.

Philip Ho, an officer from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, told Radio Television HK yesterday that dozens of food samples had been taken, with results expected in the next few days.

The government’s Centre for Food Safety is also conducting tests on mooncakes from retailers across the territory. The pastries are consumed in vast numbers during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Popular bakery chain Maxim’s Cakes removed pineapple buns from its shelves over the weekend after confirming it had used oil from Chang Guann Co (強冠企業), the Taiwanese oil manufacturer at the heart of the scandal.

Macau’s Food Safety Centre said 21 bakeries and food manufacturers had bought oil from Chang Guann through a local importer.

Shoppers in Hong Kong said they were increasingly concerned about the safety of food, especially imported products.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/09/09/2003599324

Structure of the lead:

Who- Not given

When- September 8

What- Gutter oil

Why- Not given    

Where- Taiwan

How- Not given

Keywords:

Grease trap (n.) 隔油池

Reignite (v.) 重燃

Hygiene (n.) 衛生

Taiwan actor Ko Chen-tung cut from blockbuster after drug arrest with Jaycee Chan

The fourth installment of the Chinese blockbuster franchise Tiny Times will not feature Taiwanese actor Ko Chen-tung, after he was arrested for drug use in Beijing in July, state media reported.

The 23-year-old actor, also known as Kai Ko, served 14 days in detention in Beijing for drug offences after he was detained along with Jaycee Fong Cho-ming, son of Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan.

China’s media watchdog has warned mainland production companies not to use stars involved in prostitution, gambling or drug abuse. China Radio International reports that Ko’s scenes in Tiny Times 4, due for release in February, are being reshot.

The Tiny Times franchise, which has been called China’s ‘Gossip Girl’, has been hugely successful. On its release in July, the third film knocked Transformers 4 off the top of the Chinese box office, taking more than 306 million yuan in its first four days and setting a record for a 2D film.

Writer-director Guo Jinming said earlier this year he might have to cut Ko from the fourth film, though he later denied he was in talks with an actor to replace him.

“The movie has to be submitted for censorship and it’s beyond my ability,” Guo told the Beijing News in September.

Ko, who made a tearful confession of drug use on state TV in August, has already lost a number of high-profile endorsement deals, including with Canon, KFC, and Quaker Oats.

The actor will also reportedly be cut from ‘Monster Hunt’, the live-action debut of Chinese director Raman Hui, who previously co-directed ‘Shrek the Third’.

Jaycee Chan was formally arrested in September on suspicion of “accommodating drug users” and potentially faces as much as three years in prison.

Jackie Chan, who was named a Chinese anti-drug ambassador in 2009, has publicly apologised for his son’s behavior and blamed his failings as a parent.

“I am always a father. I used to be an unqualified father. Now, after this event, I want to be a qualified father,” Chan told reporters last month.

Ko and Chan were detained as part of an ongoing anti-drug campaign. This week Chinese police announced that more than 100,000 drug users had been "investigated" and 12 tones of narcotics seized in the past 50 days alone. 

Structure of the lead:

Who- Taiwanese actor Ko Chen-tung

When- July

What- Arrested for drug use

Why- Not given       

Where- Beijing

How- Not given

Keywords:

Blockbuster(n.)賣座的

Franchise(n.)專營權 

Prostitution(n.)賣淫

Abuse(n.)濫用

Censorship(n.)審查

Ambassador(n.)大使

Narcotics(n.)毒品

Dozens dead as Taiwan gas explosions tear up streets

A downtown district of the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung was ripped apart just before midnight Thursday by a series of explosions that killed at least 26 people and injured hundreds more, state news agency CNA reported.

The blasts, which were triggered by underground gas leaks, tore trenches through main roads, overturned cars and trucks, and sent flames leaping into the air in the city's Cianjhen district.

Witnesses said they saw vehicles flung into the air by the force of the explosions; one car was found on the roof of a three-story building.

Zong Han-Li was driving when the explosion happened directly in front of him, and his dashboard camera caught the moment the gas ignited.

The explosion left a trench 2 meters deep. Some vehicles were blasted into the air, and some people fell into the trench. It was a devastating scene.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/31/world/asia/taiwan-explosions/index.html?iref=allsearch

Structure of the lead:

Who-not given

When-7/31

What-gas explosion

Why- not given

Where-Kaohsiung

How- not given

Keywords:

Rip(v.)拉開

Blasts(n.)爆炸

Trigger(v.)引發

Trenches(n.)壕溝

Dashboard(n.)儀表盤

Ignite(v.)點燃

Devastating(Adj.)破壞性的