TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Renowned chef Cheng Yen-chi, widely known as "Chef Ah-Chi," confirmed on Tuesday (March 12), that his newly introduced brand of "Sichuan Chicken with Chili Oil," uses ingredients containing the carcinogenic Sudan dye.
He also confirmed that a total of 528 boxes of the product have been sold out, with no inventory left on hand.
The use of the cancer-causing ingredient Sudan dye has sparked a widespread food safety crisis across Taiwan, as numerous sellers have urgently started to remove related food products from the shelves and offer refunds to customers.
Chef Ah-Chi publicly apologized amid the food safety scandal, confessing the problematic ingredients purchased from Golden Howard Co. were obtained from Gin Zhan International Co. In response, he vowed to monitor product development processes more rigorously and appealed to regulatory and judicial authorities to clear up the truth to protect consumers' rights to food safety.
Products manufactured and processed by Golden Howard Co., such as "Sacha Sauce," have also been affected due to the issue with the tainted chili powder, causing severe shocks to the restaurant industry.
Upon acknowledging the problem with the raw materials, the product manufacturer Jasper Company has promptly dealt with the issue, diligently working on assisting consumers with the return or exchange of the affected products.