The Taipei Department of Health yesterday confirmed it received reports about suspected food poisoning at a conveyor belt sushi chain restaurant and at a buffet restaurant in a hotel in the city, adding it had since sent inspectors to investigate the environment and collect specimens for testing.
A local media outlet on Sunday evening reported that four people who ate together at a branch of a sushi restaurant chain in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) on Thursday last week experienced suspected food poisoning symptoms, including rashes, vomiting and diarrhea.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday said the health department received a report from a hospital on the same day, and immediately sent inspectors to the restaurant.
Photo: CNA
However, there were no food ingredients from the same batch that could be sampled, so specimens from the food handlers’ hands and utensils used to prepare raw food were collected for testing.
Taipei Department of Health food and drug division head Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) said they also inspected the restaurant’s environmental hygiene and found four flaws — the trash can by the sink did not have a foot pedal, the restaurant could not provide its food handlers’ health exam documents, the rim of the rice cooker was dirty and the exhaust vent behind the ice cream machine was dirty.
The restaurant was asked to implement improvements by Sunday, and if it failed a reinspection, a fine of between NT$60,000 and NT$200 million (US$1,876 and US$6.25 million) could be imposed, she said, adding that if the test results also failed sanitary standards, it might also face a fine of between NT$60,000 and NT$200 million, according to the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法).
Department Commissioner Chen Yen-yuan (陳彥元) said two of the four customers experienced rashes, diarrhea and have returned home to rest after seeking medical attention.
Meanwhile, local media yesterday reported that a family of six said that after eating at a high-end buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) on Sunday, three of them experienced suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach ache and diarrhea.
When asked, Lin said the department received a report about the cases from a hospital on Sunday, and immediately sent inspectors to the restaurant, but there was also no leftover food for sampling, so specimens from the food handlers’ hands, utensils used to prepare roasted duck and raw fish, and steak tongs were collected for testing.
Environmental hygiene inspection in the restaurant found four unsanitary places: the top of the stove in its central kitchen, the steamer, the top of the steak grilling area, and the steam oven in its Western food area, she said.
The restaurant was asked to make improvements by Monday next week, and told that it might face a fine for failing sanitary testing after a reinspection, she added.
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