A Ministry of Health and Welfare audit of food safety this year found breaches by a number of popular chain restaurants.
The list of offenders, released Monday, included a branch of the hotpot chain HaiDiLao (海底撈火鍋), where inspectors found excessive levels of pesticide residue, and a Umai Yakinuku (屋馬燒肉) location where Escherichia coli was found.
The audit, which took place from March to April, inspected 173 restaurants chosen at random from a list compiled on the basis of their popularity and menu types.
The restaurants were tested for compliance with hygiene regulations, their food business registration status, possession of liability insurance and proper labeling of food products, said Chou Pei-ju (周珮如), a division chief at the Food and Drug Administration’s Northern Center for Regional Administration.
Inspectors also took samples of 343 food items for laboratory testing.
In all the restaurants where E. coli was found, the contaminated ingredients were raw vegetables used in salads, indicating that there were possible hygienic lapses in the food preparation process, Chou said.
Restaurants must give the highest priority to food hygiene and safety or risk legal consequences, including fines, for future violations, Chou said.
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
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