The Keelung, and Yilan and Hualien county governments on Friday announced a ban on the use of flat rice noodles in school lunches amid safety concerns, following a fatal food poisoning incident believed to have been caused by a dish containing the ingredient.
At least 28 people fell ill after eating at a branch of the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam in Taipei last week. Two died on Sunday last week and Wednesday, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said.
Most of the people who fell ill said they had eaten the menu item char kway teow (炒粿條) — a stir-fried flat rice noodle dish with egg — between Tuesday and Sunday last week, the ministry said.
Photo: Taipei Times
On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control confirmed that bongkrek acid, a toxin produced in fermented corn or coconut contaminated by the bacterium Burkholderia gladioli, was detected in eight diners, including the two who died.
The Yilan and Hualien county governments announced that flat rice noodles would be banned from school lunches until further notice, effective immediately, to safeguard students’ health, while Keelung said it would begin a similar ban starting tomorrow.
The local governments said they would use other ingredients to replace flat rice noodles, adding that the suspension would remain until safety concerns surrounding bongkreki acid poisoning end.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education instructed schools not to use reheated food or “semi-finished food products that no longer need to be cooked” for school lunches, without elaborating on what the later part means.
The ministry reminded schools and meal providers that school meals have to be made on the same day they are served.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS