Four people running a breakfast eatery in Chiayi County were yesterday charged with mass food poisoning, after a student died and 44 people fell sick after eating there last year.
An investigation by the Chiayi County Health Bureau and Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office found that most of the people had salmonella poisoning from contaminated liquid eggs used by the eatery.
The four were charged with breaching provisions of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法). They are a couple surnamed Kuo (郭), the owners of a soybean milk breakfast eatery in Minsyong Township (民雄), the chief operating manager of the eatery, also surnamed Kuo; and the eatery’s female manager, surnamed Wu (吳).
Initial reports on the case said that a male graduate student at National Chung Cheng University, surnamed Lin, visited the eatery on April 21 last year, where he ordered French toast with fillings and soybean milk.
After eating, Lin went to class, but then began vomiting, had diarrhea and a fever.
On April 24, friends found Lin dead, lying on the floor of his dormitory room.
Chiayi health officials at the time said it appeared to be a case of mass poisoning, as more than 40 students and local residents reported having stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhea.
All had consumed food at the Minsyong eatery.
Lin’s father filed a lawsuit against the owners and proprietors of the eatery, saying his son had died from food poisoning.
Following the indictment, Lin’s father said: “This is belated justice for us, but to this day, the owners and the proprietors had shown no remorse for what happened and had made no attempts for financial compensation.”
“I am anguished and still grieving over the loss of my son,” he added.
Prosecutors said that the investigation found unhygienic and unsafe practices and conditions at the eatery.
“Employees would pick up the broken shells when breaking them to make liquid eggs, which were stored at room temperature for long periods. The eatery had also repeatedly used leftover liquid eggs when preparing customers’ orders,” they said.
“These led to increased risks of contamination and growth of the salmonella bacteria,” the indictment read.
The owners and proprietors should be held liable because they failed to set up a standard operating procedure and failed to instruct employees on proper ways of preparing and cooking food, prosecutors said.
An autopsy confirmed that Lin died of salmonella poisoning.
He was vomiting, had diarrhea and was dehydrated, forensic doctors said,.
His condition degenerated into severe gastroenteritis, and he had massive organ failure and died of septic shock, they said.
Health officials also found salmonella in fecal samples from at least 15 victims.
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