The Grand Hotel (圓山飯店) attempted to cover up a case of food poisoning in August by paying off customers, New Party Taipei City councilor Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元) said yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference, Lee presented a copy of documents bearing the signature of Grand Hotel chairwoman Christine Tsung (宗才怡) that confirmed food poisoning had resulted from a hotel-catered banquet earlier this year.
The five-star hotel was the venue of a wedding banquet that served more than 800 guests on Aug. 31. Some 500 had reported diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain by Sept 1.
Subsequent reports indicated that as many as 80 percent of the guests at the banquet had food poisoning.
Chinese-language media reported that negotiations between the hotel management and the guests resulted in a pay off of NT$1 million for the banquet hosts and gift certificates for the guests.
Cases of food poisoning are usually reported to the health authorities, Lee said, adding that when three of the guests had been sent to the Mackay Memorial Hospital the next morning, hospital officials reported the case as one of possible food poisoning.
But the local health authority ruled out food poisoning after taking samples.
Lee accused health officials of covering up the Grand Hotel's lapse in food sanitation.
In other health news, a cluster of tuberculosis has been reported at a vocational school in Chiayi. According to the Center for Disease Control, between April 28 and Dec. 18, six students and one teacher tested positive for tuberculosis.
After investigating the cluster, performing tests on all 2,609 students and teachers at the school, the CDC found another six students with the disease.
The local health authorities have disinfected the school and asked students to wear masks. Six students have been released from the hospital while seven are still being treated.
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