A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday.
The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday.
As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the buffet to suspend operations based on the city’s standard procedure for suspected food poisoning investigation and the Food Safety and Sanitation Act (食品安全衛生管理法), it said.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Department of Legal Affairs
The health department said it first received reports from hospitals of nine people with suspected food poisoning, all of whom ate at the restaurant on Sunday and had consumed raw food including sashimi, oysters and scallops.
Department inspectors on Tuesday conducted an environmental review of the restaurant and collected food samples, it said, adding that they found two hygiene issues and ordered that they be rectified before tomorrow.
The samples were sent for examination to match with specimens collected from the ill diners, the results of which were expected in two weeks, it said.
Taipei Department of Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) said that as of yesterday afternoon, 32 people had been reported by hospitals as having suspected food poisoning after eating at the restaurant on Sunday and Monday.
On Tuesday afternoon, the department issued a business suspension order on the restaurant, but found that it was still operating later that evening, Lin said, adding that the department would impose the maximum fine of NT$3 million for the blatant disregard of the order.
Moreover, as the department received numerous hospital reports associated with the incident, it would apply to the Centers for Disease Control to initiate an epidemiological investigation, as detailed in the central government’s guidelines for handling suspected food poisoning incidents.
If the examinations or epidemiological investigation confirms the incident to be food poisoning, the restaurant could face an additional fine of up to NT$200 million under the Food Safety and Sanitation Act, Lin said.
The department yesterday also inspected five other restaurants owned by Feastogether Group (饗賓集團), which were asked to improve hygiene issues before Saturday or face fines, she added.
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