Kaohsiung Councilor's Husband's Company Investigated for Altering Origin Labels; Cites Regulatory Contradictions

Central News Agency Message (CNA Reporter Chang Chi-mien, Kaohsiung, 20th) Chang-chien Cheng-wei, the husband of KMT Kaohsiung City Councilor Chiu Yu-hsuan and the person in charge of Dafa Food Ingredients Company, is being investigated by prosecutors for allegedly altering the country of origin labels on products such as mushrooms and sesame seeds. Dafa Food Ingredients stated that the labeling error stemmed from contradictory administrative regulations and that they will cooperate with the judicial investigation to make corrections.

According to media reports, in November last year, Dafa Food Ingredients allegedly sold "sesame" and "mushrooms" to multiple restaurants and schools in Kaohsiung City. It was later discovered that the sesame and mushroom products sold were labeled as originating from Taiwan, but allegedly came from China and Vietnam.

The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office explained that in late 2025 (Republic of China year 114), they received a report from the Kaohsiung City Government Department of Health that a business had purchased foreign food products and repackaged them, allegedly falsely claiming Taiwan as the country of origin, involving suspected violations of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation and fraud.

Prosecutors stated that they assigned a prosecutor to direct the Southern Squadron, 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Police Corps to investigate. On March 4, they executed a search warrant issued by the court to search the business premises and summoned the person in charge surnamed Chang-chien for questioning. The prosecutor ordered him to post bail of NT$50,000 and will continue to investigate relevant evidence to clarify the facts.

Dafa Food Ingredients issued a statement today explaining that when the company received an inspection and guidance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2024 (Republic of China year 113), they were asked to change their identity status on the US FDA website, classifying the company as a "manufacturing business." Furthermore, the Taiwan FDA's mandatory registration platform forced the company to check the box for "manufacturing and processing business" and register the factory as being located in Taiwan.

Dafa Food Ingredients stated that based on their understanding of the administrative system and guidance, the company misunderstood the definition of "repackaging manufacturing vendor" in the regulations and believed the manufacturing and processing location should be labeled as Taiwan. This cognitive error is common among peers in the industry, and Dafa Food Ingredients is not the only one with this doubt and procedural flaw.

Dafa Food Ingredients mentioned that the company had absolutely no intent to defraud, nor did it gain illicit profits from the label adjustment. Regardless of the labeled country of origin, the prices and quality of the company's products have always remained consistent. Prices were not changed because they were labeled as Taiwan or other countries, nor were there any unscrupulous behaviors such as mixing inferior products.

Dafa Food Ingredients pointed out that they have comprehensively reviewed and improved the legality of the company's administrative processes, procedures, and norms to ensure accurate labeling, and will face relevant administrative penalties and judicial investigations. In addition, they hope that the competent authorities will make the industry regulations and administrative guidance more explicit, allowing businesses to have clear regulatory guidelines to follow and avoiding the risk of breaking the law due to misunderstandings.

KMT Kaohsiung City Councilor Chiu Yu-hsuan stated via a message that she deeply apologizes for the public doubts caused by the controversy. Her stance has always been "food safety first, seeking truth from facts." The labeling flaw this time was not malicious deception, but an administrative "cognitive error." She supports relevant units in thoroughly investigating the truth. If there was any misunderstanding of the regulations, Dafa Food Ingredients will absolutely not shirk responsibility. (Editor: Chang Ming-kun) 1150420

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