Only two out of 20 restaurants that often host companies’ annual year-end banquets, or weiya (尾牙), have passed construction, fire and food safety inspections, the Consumer Protection Committee said yesterday.
The inspections were conducted last month in Taipei, New Taipei City, Kaohsiung, and Hsinchu, Changhua and Hualien counties, the committee said.
“Sixteen restaurants failed the construction safety inspection, 10 failed fire safety requirements and 14 failed in food hygiene,” consumer ombudsman Wang Te-ming (王德明) told a news conference in Taipei.
Haidaotzu (海釣族海鮮小館), a restaurant in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋), was found to have been operating in an illegal building for more than a decade.
“It did not obtain a construction permit, which is relatively rare,” Wang said. “A fine of NT$60,000 will be imposed, and then a demolition team will tear down the building.”
CK Lee Garden (國麗園大飯店) in Chuanghua County and Fong Chuan Restaurant (豐川菜館) were found to be operating in buildings listed as farmhouses, while the first three floors of Three Coin Restaurant (大三元) in Taipei did not have necessary permits, he said.
Restaurants found to have fire safety issues were Eyaji HK Style Restaurant (易牙居臻愛婚宴會館) and Haidaotzu in New Taipei City; Ciaotienhsia (炒天下), KKS Hotel (國廣興大飯店) and Fong Chuan Restaurant in Hualien County; Ocean City Banquet Hall (海都宴會館) and Parris Restaurant (饌巴黎大飯店) in Hsinchu County; New Palace Restaurant’s Yuanlin Branch (天地婚宴會館員林店); and CK Lee Garden and Linyi Restaurant (林儀餐廳) in Changhua County, Wang said.
The restaurants’ fire safety had shortcomings such as sub-standard indoor fire extinguishers; inadequate alarm systems; the absence of smoke dampers, flame-resistant textiles for carpets, curtains and tablecloths, and other fire protection equipment.
Ten of the restaurants with construction or fire safety issues were given time to bring their safety measures up to standards, Wang said.
As for food hygiene issues, 14 restaurants breached the Regulations on Good Hygiene Practice for Food (食品衛生良好規範準則), he said.
The three in Taipei are Ever Green Vegetarian Restaurant (長春素食), Hai Pa Wang Restaurant’s Zhongshan branch (海霸王中山店) and Yun Fu Lou Restaurant (永福樓).
Also cited were Eyaji HK Style Restaurant and Double Lucky Restaurant (喜相逢婚宴會館) in New Taipei City, Fan Wedding Restaurant (小范海鮮饕宴館), Parris Restaurant and Ocean City Banquet Hall in Hsinchu County, New Palace Restaurant’s Yuanlin Branch and Linyi Restaurant in Changhua County, and Ciaotienhsia, KKS Hotel and Fong Chuan Restaurant in Hualien County.
Seven of the 14 were found to have stale ingredients in their kitchens and were fined NT$60,000 each for violating the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法).
Wang said records show that the number of people that have died in restaurant-related accidents came second to aviation accidents, so it is important that people choose safe restaurants, especially during the weiya season.
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