Head of Taiwan 'gutter oil' firm kowtows for apology  

臺餿水油公司老董下跪道歉 喝自家油澄清品質(zhì)(組圖)

Yeh Wen-hsiang, boss of the Kaohsiung-based Chang Guann Co, the scandalized supplier of "gutter oil" in Taiwan, keels down at a press conference on September 11, 2014 in Taiwan. [Photo: udn.com]

(ECNS) -- The boss of the Kaohsiung-based Chang Guann Co, the scandalized supplier of "gutter oil" in Taiwan, knelt twice and drank a cup of cooking oil at a press conference on Thursday.

The company's chairman Yeh Wen-hsiang knelt down for 45 seconds and said he'd be "better off dead than alive" and that his "heart was rending" less than a minute after the press conference began, local news reports said.

Yeh claimed that his company had followed production standards and that their products had passed quality tests. In tears, he said his company was also a victim, having been misled by its own suppliers.

Taiwan has been in the grip of fear and anger since police busted a ring selling hundreds of tons of recycled cooking oil made from kitchen waste and grease from leather processing plants last week.

A man surnamed Kuo and five others allegedly ran illegal businesses to make the recycled waste oil at about a dozen operations in Kaohsiung and neighboring Pingtung.

Chang Guann produced 782 tons of lard from the oil, before selling it to 235 food companies and restaurants, including leading brands such as Wei Chuan Corp and 85°C Bakery Café.

Some 1,020 retail businesses were identified as having used the oil, the public health watchdog said.

The public health authority in Kaohsiung has fined the company 50 million New Taiwan dollars (US$1.67 million).