萬國法律事務所

The discovery of arsenic substance in frying oil at several McDonald’s braches last June by the Taipei County Government has caused a major uproar among the consumers. The Banciao District Prosecutor’s Office has recently announced that it would not issue indictment against McDonald’s on the grounds that it was impossible to determine the chemical property of arsenic found in the frying oil to be organic or inorganic. As soon as the announcement was released, the public blamed the Taipei City Government blunder for the test result. The Taipei County Government consumer protection official, Ms. Yang Shun-Hui, defended the county government, saying that the inspection was conducted in accordance with the rules set out by the Department of Health, which only set the maximum tolerable intake of arsenic and did not differentiate further into “organic” and “inorganic” type.

The Prosecutor Office said that merely knowing the arsenic levels was insufficient to conclude whether the oil was harmful to human beings. Since no consumer has filed any charges against McDonald’s for illness, the Prosecutor Office decided to drop the case for lack of evidence. The Prosecutor Office then stressed that it had no intention to negate or doubt the test result or sampling method by the Taipei County Government.

Just after the announcement by the Prosecutor Office, the Taipei County Government released their most recent test results on frying oil at five major fast-food chains on March 1, 2010. They found excessive acidity levels in the frying oil at McDonald’s Jhonghsin and Tuchen branches and have demanded immediate correction. In addition, acrylamide, a carcinogenic substance, was found in the frying oil at McDonald’s Jhonghsin branch as well as Domino’s Tatung branch.

In response to the drop of case by the Prosecutor Office, McDonald’s issued a statement expressing its appreciation toward the prosecutors’ decision as well as vowing to win back consumers and regain consumer trust by observing stringent quality control over its products.