The Taipei District Court yesterday sentenced Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) owner Li Fang-hsuan (黎仿軒) to one year and 10 months in prison for negligent homicide in a first-instance ruling following a nearly two-year trial over a fatal food poisoning incident.
Substitute cook Ho Ching-fu (胡清富) was sentenced to eight months on the same charge, while head chef Chou Jih-hao (周日豪) received six months and an intern, surnamed Nguyen, received four months, both commutable to fines of NT$1,000 per day.
The court dismissed the negligent-injury prosecution against store manager Wang Shun-te (王順德) and acquitted him of the remaining charges, finding insufficient evidence that he had authority over or knowledge of the kitchen’s food storage and handling practices.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The five were indicted in January last year for contravening the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), negligent homicide and negligent injury.
Six people died and 27 others fell ill after eating noodle dishes contaminated with bongkrek acid at the Far Eastern Department Stores’ Xinyi A13 branch between March 19 and 24, 2024.
Chou, Ho and Nguyen stored opened packages of flat rice noodles with refrigeration on a low shelf near a drain, allowing the noodles to become contaminated with the toxin, the verdict said.
Li failed to implement strict food control protocols or provide sufficient staff training, prosecutors said, adding that they sought at least four years in prison for him.
Ho, who was overseeing kitchen operations, continued storing rice noodles from opened packages at room temperature, mixing batches and reusing plastic bags, despite not knowing when the packages had been opened or whether the bags were clean, the court said.
Although Chou stopped working at the restaurant before the contaminated meals were served, he had previously instructed staff that small amounts of rice noodles left over from opened packages did not need refrigeration, it said.
The intern bore less responsibility because of her junior role and limited decisionmaking authority, it said.
As none of the four defendants admitted wrongdoing, the court rejected requests for reduced or suspended sentences.
Although Polam Kopitiam had settled with some victims, the payments came from the insurers of Food Republic Taiwan Co and Far Eastern Department Stores’ Xinyi branch, not from the defendants personally, the judges said.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) told reporters that the court should have imposed heavier sentences and that penalties under the act are too light.
He said he has been talking with lawmakers about amendments and would support legal assistance for the victims’ families.
Democratic Progressive Party Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said there was a gap between the sentences sought and those handed down, but added that it was hard to comment before reading the ruling.
The verdict is a matter for the judiciary, while the city’s main task is preventing a recurrence, he added.
Huang Shu-chun (黃舒君), the only critically ill victim to survive, accused the city government of negligence.
She cited the lack of an early provisional attachment of the owner’s assets — which she said forced families to turn to public compensation and private insurance — and health officials’ incomplete sampling.
She said she was “extremely angry” that Chiang was using the tragedy to talk up his record, adding that she has received only a NT$12,000 condolence payment, with compensation talks with insurers still under way.
Additional reporting by Kan Meng-lin and Ho Yu-hua
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