Hundreds of thousands rally in Taipei over tainted cooking oil scandal: Organisers

East Asia More than 200,000 people gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard to demand answers over the government’s handling of the scandal, after over 500 products linked to contaminated soybean oil were pulled from shelves earlier this month. More than 200,000 people attended the rally on Jul 25, 2026, organised by the Kuomintang (KMT) opposition party. (Photo: Facebook/Kuomintang) 27 Jul 2026 06:17PM (Updated: 27 Jul 2026 06:50PM) TAIPEI: More than 200,000 people gathered in Taipei to attend an opposition-led rally on Saturday (Jul 25), demanding answers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government over its handling of a food scandal that erupted earlier this month.Excessive levels of benzo[a]pyrene were found in batches of raw soybean cooking oil, prompting more than 500 products to be pulled from shelves and affecting over 1,300 businesses.Civil groups, medical professionals, and local government leaders were among those in attendance, the Kuomintang (KMT) opposition party, which organised the protest, said in a Facebook post.“Food safety is a basic human right. It should not be something people have to risk their lives to obtain,” the party said in its post, adding that people simply wanted food that was “safe to eat and did not cause cancer”. Benzo[a]pyrene is classified as carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. It is a type of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, formed during the incomplete burning of organic materials such as coal, oil, tobacco and wood.KMT also criticised the DPP government for “cover-ups, opaque decision-making, delays, shifting blame and passing the buck”. More than 200,000 people attended the rally at Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei, Taiwan on Jul 25, 2026. (Photo: Facebook/Taiwan's People Party) Pictures and videos showed large crowds gathered in front of the Presidential Office.Protesters were seen holding banners. "Failure to ensure food safety. Covering up health risks," read one slogan.“Oppose poisonous oil, protect food safety,” said another.KMT also called for Taiwan’s Premier Cho Jung-tai to resign over the government’s handling of the scandal.Earlier this month, a Legislative Yuan committee had approved a motion proposed by opposition lawmakers calling for Premier Cho Jung-tai, Taiwan’s Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang and TFDA’s Director-General Chiang Chih-kang to step down.The party also demanded Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te “immediately apologise” and to stop “avoiding the people”. In a separate Facebook post, Huang Kuo-chang, a politician from the centre-left Taiwan’s People Party demanded that Cho step down from his post and take responsibility.Cho on Friday said that rallying was a “civil right” and hoped that rational discussions would prevail after the rally, Taiwanese news reports said.“More than three weeks have passed,” said Huang. “Has the DPP government told the public where the alleged contaminated oil has gone?”Central Union Oil was fined NT$165.2 million (US$5.2 million) over the incident.Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) said the Taichung-based edible oil supplier had detected excessive levels of benzo[a]pyrene in a batch of “soybean salad oil”. About 1,300 metric tonnes of the affected oil had been found to contain 8.1 micrograms per kg of benzo[a]pyrene, more than four times Taiwan's legal limit of 2 micrograms per kg.The affected oil was later distributed to three food manufacturers between April and June, reports said.According to local news outlet Focus Taiwan, these companies then sold a range of products containing the tainted oil to smaller food processors and restaurants.“AN ISSUE AFFECTING TAIWAN’S IMAGE”Speaking to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, one protester demanded more government accountability.“At the beginning, the local government was responsible for conducting inspections,” said the protester, surnamed Lin, adding that official responses “could have been more efficient”.“But now, a month later, it’s ... an issue affecting Taiwan's image.”Cho has denied claims of attempting to protect manufacturers by concealing information about products affected by the tainted oil.The government’s principle had been to promptly remove potentially contaminated products from store shelves and disclose the affected businesses, Cho told reporters on Jul 18.Meanwhile, Taiwanese Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee said that the Cabinet had proposed amendments to the Act governing food safety and sanitation, adding that food safety should not be influenced by partisan politics.