Fake food in Taiwan

A while ago I heard a rumor that some Olive Oil sold in Taiwan has been known to be repackaged and blended with other (who knows what) oil before it hits the shelves.

As I’d already bought some Olive Oil that ‘seemed’ like a good deal (like 50-60% cost of other oils), I thought I’d compare it to good stuff next time I found some.

Basically, I go for 100% extra virgin olive oil, and I figured beyond that, the price is the next determining factor - it’s 100% after all, right? Attached is a photo of 2 bottles. The one on the left is the bottle that says ‘packaged in Taichung, Taiwan, from imported Spanish Olive Oil.’
I haven’t been that impressed by this Oil. It’s stickier and stinkier than other Olive Oils I’ve used, but until I compared it to the bottle on the right, I had no idea just how bad that TW packaged oil was. The bottle on the right is also Spanish Olive Oil, but it’s packaged in Spain, not Taiwan. The taste, color, viscosity and smell right out of the bottle is markedly different. When heated, the differences become even more distinct. The Tw packaged oil just smells awful in comparison.

Currently, in our household we have got needs for fairly strict purity with ingredients (medical reasons), so it got me thinking that there is a good chance here that we have been consuming some other shit that is blended with olive oil and is being passed off as 100% Extra Virgin olive oil. My biggest fear is that any blending would most likely involve the shittiest oil out there, which could possibly entirely synthetic for all I know.

So the next questions are: Has anyone else had cause for concern regarding fake ingredients? (In the last few years, I guess I’ve heard at least a half dozen media reports about fake foods/drinks made in Taiwan - so it’s not unusual here.)
How difficult would it be to test something like this?
Is there somewhere I can contact to hand over this sample for testing & investigation?

Dump it in the recycling truck and cut your losses. I’m getting good stuff from RTMart right now. Not cheap at over NT$500/bottle, but its virgin first cold pressing unfiltered and you won’t find purer if that’s what you’re after. You can’t fry with it, though. Comes in a bottle with a rush cover (like cheap 70’s chianti) but don’t let that put you off. It’s good.

Taiwanese olive oil? Not for me. I’ll only settle for the very best: made in China, baby. :laughing:

It’s a pretty well known fact that Taiwanese brands of olive oil are out-right fake or blended with other oils without stating as much on labels. It was in the news a while back.

It’s imports only where olive oil is concerned.

Yeah, absolutely what they said. You cannot trust local brands. Buy a Spanish or Italian import like Bertolli, or buy the Costco import (huge and economical). Definitely don’t buy any local regardless of whether it says pure or blended.

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i would shoot myself before i used an olive oil like that–i’m going to go out on a limb and guess you are not of Mediterranean ancestry Truant lol–but for whatever product I always stay away from random Taiwan brands, stick to name brands only when buying local. many local people understand this as well, there’s a name “zapai” specifically for such unknown brands.

Yeah…heartily agree with the previous comments.

Same thing for a bottle of wine that has “Cabernet” and “Taiwan” appearing anywhere on the label. Stay Away from it!

OK, I hear what you are all saying. “By imported, stay away from random brands” etc, however as seen in the pic the bottle neck is labled “imported from Spain”, and the brand is “Tatung”, hardly a random Taiwanese brand.
This was bought from my local Wellcome, and was the only bottle clearly identified as “Imported from Spain, 100% Extra Virgin olive oil”.
I’m talking about oil used for cooking here. For bread dippings, dressings etc I use oil from a boutique organic olive oil place near where my in laws live in NZ.

Anyway, this got me thinking a bit. I’ve been a bit mocked for buying that “Imported from Spain, 100% Extra virgin olive oil” oil in the first place, and that I should buy “imported” stuff. So, if I can’t believe labeling here in Taiwan, how do I know that the stuff I buy really is imported? Cos the bottle looks more authentic? The price? How do I know the stuff you’re recommending is the real deal?

To me, this opens a whole can of worms. It’s seems reading the replies so far that it’s an accepted fact that supermarkets here stock fake foods/liquids - the solution is to buy “imported stuff” (not the stuff that’s just labled “imported”, but the stuff that is really imported.)
Yet, no one seems to bothered by the wider implications: If fake food in one form is acceptable in Taiwan, then it’s almost certain that YOU are eating other fake goods here without knowing it.

Do you wonder why milk here seems to last for 2 weeks, where as back home you get just a few days?
Is 100% Orange Juice actually juice from an orange?
Is the bottled water you buy any better than the heavy metal infested gunk the comes out of your tap? Even if it says “Bottled at spring source, Cascade Mountains, Hope, BC, Canada”?

Does this bother anyone else?

Doesn’t particularly bother me much, but I’d just add that there is a vast illegal trade with China happening, you know, the place that brought you fake baby milk and fake eggs* and more regularly, pirated cigarettes. Illegal boats are routinely stopped mid-Strait carrying all manner of ordinary food stuffs and so on, like garlic, pork, potatoes, etc.

I think the catch is in the re-packaged in Taichung on that oil. It just allows a little window to improve the company’s margins. In general I trust what the big supermarkets sell, even here in HK where much of the fresh produce is from China - think how awfully polluted the land and water is! Then again, I love Taiwanese rice . . but look where they grow that shit!

So as for your olive oil, I would trust an imported bottle - not re-packaged - but ditch the Tatung brand. Overly cautious? Maybe.

HG

  • Fake cigs are routine in China and there are lots of reports of them being shipped by fast boat across the strait. Occasionally when I lived in Taiwan I’d get a pack from a betel nut stall that just didn’t seem right. Apparently the North Koreans run the fake fag operation which just leaves you wondering, what the hell they’ve put in them.

*[quote]Egg piracy in China.
During a recent raid on a wholesale centre in Guangzhou city, the capital of China’s Guangdong province, a large quantity of fake eggs was seized.

Their wholesale price is 0.15 yuan (S$0.03) each - half the price of a real egg.

Consumers have a hard time telling a genuine egg from a fake one. This is good news for unscrupulous entrepreneurs, who are even conducting three-day courses in the production of artificial eggs for less than S$150.
A reporter with Hong Kong-based Chinese magazine East Week enrolled in one such course.

To create egg white, the instructor - a woman in her 20s - used assorted ingredients such as gelatin, an unknown powder, benzoic acid, coagulating material and even alum, which is normally used for industrial processes.

For egg yolk, some lemon-yellow colouring powder is mixed to a liquid and the concoction stirred. The liquid is then poured into a round-shaped plastic mould and mixed with so-called ‘magic water’, which contains calcium chloride.

This gives the ‘yolk’ a thin outer membrane, firming it up. The egg is then shaped with a mould. The shell is not forgotten. Paraffin wax and an unidentified white liquid are poured onto the fake egg, which is then left to dry.

The artificial egg can be fried sunny-side up or steamed. Although bubbles appear on the white of the egg, those who have tasted it say the fake stuff tastes very much like the real thing.

But experts warn of the danger of eating fake eggs. Not only do they not contain any nutrients, a Hong Kong Chinese University professor warned that long-term consumption of alum could cause dementia. . . more here, and pics. . . [/quote]

That ‘Tatung’ is not the same one as sells all the air conditioners and other household electrical goods. It is just some random brand.

One of my criteria for purchasing things when I’m not familiar with the brand is the labelling. If the label has any Chinese printed on it then one of two things is happening. Either the importer has supplied artwork to the supplier to produce custom labels just for Taiwan, or the product has been repackaged. If the entire label is in a foreign language and there is only a sticker plastered on top in Chinese, I’m much happier.

The whole trend is very worrying. You can be sure that the increasing volume of fake food in China will find it’s way into Taiwan. I used to avoid rice grown on the west coast as it’s so industrialized, but cheerfully eat just about anything else. Now I’m a lot more suspicious of everything.

Switzerland is great. All fresh produce can be traced to the individual farm and you have the right to visit any time to check for yourself they meet applicable standards. No need to mention it is not cheap.

that raw egg story is bullshit,

egg whites,to look real,have to be in liquid/gelatinous state…

how do you pour a “shell” on a liquid substance??

there is maybe a very remote chance to produce a fake egg
but at first glance,the engineering and technology needed aren’t worth the benefits

(the egg white bubbles when cooking…no shit sherlock!)

for a bit of humor, I decided to type the website from the bottle into a browser.

tatungoil.com.tw/index.php

You’d think they’d have some nice pics of rolling countryside showing the plants their products come from. Nope, just a big ole dirty factory. Classic.

The egg story is half true. The eggs are not sold as raw, but supposedly ‘boiled’. From what I’ve heard they are not sold directly to consumers but to restaurant and food stall owners trying to lower their overheads. This site shows you how to make fake boiled eggs.

You might not like the story about using shit to make stinky dofu in Shenzhen either. Where there’s a buck to be had, there’s someone wishing to have it.

Ta Tung is a very big brand in Taiwan . . . surely! And there is something almost refreshingly honest about them showing the bottling factory rather than Spanish olive groves.

HG

There is a consumers’ organization to report suspicious products to. Unfortunately, their website is all in Chinese:
consumers.org.tw/
However, you could try contacting them via letter or email in English, and, like many places, they might be able to dig up a staff member fluent enough to respond to you. Here are the contact details from the bottom of the webpage:

中華民國消費者文教基金會
Consumers’ Foundation, Chinese Taipei
address: 台北市大安區106復興南路一段390號10樓之2
Taipei, Da-An District, zip 106
Fuxing S. Rd., Sec. 1, #390, 10F-2
phone 02-27001234
fax 02-27032675

Central Taiwan branch 04-23757234
Southern branch 06-2411234
Gaoxiong & Pingdong branch 07-2251234
Hualian & Taidong branch 03-8566555
website consumers.org.tw
E-mail:comfoda@ms14.hinet.net

Well, my understanding is that what you want for drizzling on salads, hummus etc. is cold-pressed extra-virgin, the priciest. According to one websiteI visited, “If you see “D.O.P.” (Denominazione d’Origine Protetta) on olive oil from Italy or the European Union, “A.O.C.” (Appellation d’Origine Controlée) on French olive oil or “D.O.” (Denominación de Origen) on olive oil from Spain, it is generally considered to be a better olive oil.” You want olive oil produced and bottled in Europe, where standards for what constitutes ‘extra-virgin’ are clear. U.S. standards are said to be lax, and unscrupulous producers aren’t limited to Taiwan, according to this article. However, the California Olive Oil Council has strict standards, and “extra virgin olive oil with the COOC seal has been chemically tested for composition”.

For cooking, I’m told that you’re better off with virgin, not extra virgin. One 'mosan who cooks professionally told me that these can take the high heat of cooking better than the extra-virgin can. Elsewhere, I’ve read that the high heat hurts the flavor, so there’s no point in cooking with the most expensive kind. Perhaps some of our gourmands and professional chefs can weigh in here with their own viewpoints?

Finally, from what I’ve read, the ones that don’t say 100% extra virgin or 100% virgin are inferior in taste, even if they are pure olive oil. They may say 100% olive oil, pure refined olive oil or just olive oil and, while healthy and not containing other oils (e.g., hazelnut), they will lack flavor. On the other hand, if they are packaged in Taiwan, you can’t even trust them to be all olive oil. Then there are the ones that actually say ‘blend’ in the title – well, don’t expect more than a miniscule fraction of that to be olive oil, and you can be certain that it will be crap quality 4th or 5th pressing stuff added.

That’s just my digested version from reading various websites and talking to cooks. :idunno:

Well, my understanding is that what you want for drizzling on salads, hummus etc. is cold-pressed extra-virgin, the priciest. According to one websiteI visited, “If you see “D.O.P.” (Denominazione d’Origine Protetta) on olive oil from Italy or the European Union, “A.O.C.” (Appellation d’Origine Controlée) on French olive oil or “D.O.” (Denominación de Origen) on olive oil from Spain, it is generally considered to be a better olive oil.” You want olive oil produced and bottled in Europe, where standards for what constitutes ‘extra-virgin’ are clear. U.S. standards are said to be lax, and unscrupulous producers aren’t limited to Taiwan, according to this article. However, the California Olive Oil Council has strict standards, and “extra virgin olive oil with the COOC seal has been chemically tested for composition”.

For cooking, I’m told that you’re better off with virgin, not extra virgin. One 'mosan who cooks professionally told me that these can take the high heat of cooking better than the extra-virgin can. Elsewhere, I’ve read that the high heat hurts the flavor, so there’s no point in cooking with the most expensive kind. Perhaps some of our gourmands and professional chefs can weigh in here with their own viewpoints?

Finally, from what I’ve read, the ones that don’t say 100% extra virgin or 100% virgin are inferior in taste, even if they are pure olive oil. They may say 100% olive oil, pure refined olive oil or just olive oil and, while healthy and not containing other oils (e.g., hazelnut), they will lack flavor. On the other hand, if they are packaged in Taiwan, you can’t even trust them to be all olive oil. Then there are the ones that actually say ‘blend’ in the title – well, don’t expect more than a miniscule fraction of that to be olive oil, and you can be certain that it will be crap quality 4th or 5th pressing stuff added.

That’s just my digested version from reading various websites and talking to cooks. :idunno:[/quote]

Exactly right…my understand is also that once you are applying high temps, there is no need for ‘extra-virgin’.

Get a known EU or US brand you should be OK. You used to be able to get bottles of Bertoli (a decent brand) 'Olive Oil" at Costco. That is sufficient for cooking. Get a small bottle of imported extra-virgin for salads, anti-pasta…etc…anywhere you need to flavor. I only rely on the oil that comes from the local gocer if I’m in a emergency.

For deep frying I like to use peanut oil since I like the taste. The local peanut oil and sesame oil is great.

Borges was a dependable, not exceptional but god, brand of EV Cold Pressed, Oil in the States, but here, I’ve only found the “Light” and “Regular Olive Oil”. I have not found any Borges EV Cold Pressed on shelves here.

The Spanish brand pictured is one I use a lot. The wife bought a bottle of that other stuff and I wound up throwing it away pretty quick. Very bitter ad had an ‘off’ smell.
I’ve tried several other Taiwan “EV Olive Oil” and have been disappointed with all of them.
There are some good ones out there but you have to search. And as usual, regular stocking is only hopeful.

The TAISUCO stores seem to have a good selection.

[quote=“TainanCowboy”]Borges was a dependable, not exceptional but god, brand of EV Cold Pressed, Oil in the States, but here, I’ve only found the “Light” and “Regular Olive Oil”. I have not found any Borges EV Cold Pressed on shelves here.

The Spanish brand pictured is one I use a lot. [/quote]
The one in the picture is Borges. I bought it last night at Matsusei supermarket. About $450nt.
Edit: It’s first cold pressed too.

“extra-virgin” and “pure” are the common grades, i think you mean “100% pure” and not “100% virgin.” for pasta i still like to use the extra-virgin, the flavor still holds up.