The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2026
YFY's premium camellia oil shipped with a carcinogen over the legal limit
永豐餘生技 self-reported its NT$880 250ml camellia oil at 2.9μg/kg (limit 2.0), forcing a recall of a batch from a factory that then failed twice more.
永豐餘生技 · 源春製油廠 · YFY Biotech · 2026-07-29
What happened
On the evening of 29 July 2026, 永豐餘生技 (YFY Biotech) self-reported to Taipei City's Department of Health that its '在地金花小菓苦茶油' (250ml, priced around NT$880) had failed its own test, showing benzopyrene at 2.9 μg/kg — above the regulated limit of 2.0 μg/kg for this carcinogen.
The affected batch had been on sale since 1 July through the company's channels. Taipei's health department immediately required the product to be pulled from shelves and traced the oil upstream to the 源春製油廠 in Chiayi, which had produced a total of 2,052 kg of the oil with packaging done in Chiayi and Yunlin.
The recall then widened. A second wave of testing found that two more batches of camellia oil from the same factory also exceeded the benzopyrene limit, and another brand, 高仰三苦茶油, showed readings of 2.4 and 2.0-plus μg/kg. The supplier apologised and promised to cooperate fully with the investigation.
永豐餘 subsequently offered full refunds plus a compensation shopping voucher to affected consumers. The health department warned that repeated failures after a required re-test could attract the maximum fine of NT$3 million, and it continued to probe the supply chain up and downstream.
Why it happened
- A premium-priced health product carried a carcinogen over the legal limit, and the failure was only caught by the company's own self-testing rather than a process that prevented it
- The same contract factory produced multiple failing batches, so the problem was in the sourcing or pressing process, not one unlucky lot
- Trust in a health and organic brand rests on purity, so a recall of even a small batch can cast doubt on the whole line
The lesson
A health brand is only as strong as its weakest batch — 永豐餘's premium oil failed its own carcinogen test, and one factory's repeated failures turned a recall into a wider trust problem.
Aftermath
永豐餘 Biotech withdrew the affected '在地金花小菓苦茶油' from sale and offered refunds plus compensation vouchers, while Taipei's health department traced the oil to the 源春製油廠 and expanded testing to other batches and brands from the same factory. Further failures triggered warnings of fines up to NT$3 million and an ongoing supply-chain investigation.
Sources
- 中央社 — 永豐餘苦茶油苯駢芘超標 北市追查上下游要求下架 (Jul 2026)
- ETtoday — 永豐餘苦茶油爆致癌「苯駢芘」超標 業者全額退費再補償購物金 (Jul 2026)
- TVBS — 永豐餘苦茶油苯駢芘超標 油源嘉義雲林僅包裝 (Jul 2026)
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