TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taipei City said it would inspect 37 food courts at shopping malls and department stores as the number of people affected by bongkrek acid poisoning rose to 28 Saturday (March 30).
Two people died after having eaten at a Malaysian vegetarian restaurant in the popular Xinyi District, while five were in intensive care. The Polam Kopitiam eatery was located in a food court at a luxury department store.
As a result, the Taipei City Government announced that within the next month, it would inspect the food safety and hygiene at the food plazas inside 37 department stores, supermarkets, and shopping malls.
A visit by inspectors to the Far Eastern Department Store housing the Malaysian restaurant found problems at 12 out of 27 restaurants, per Radio Taiwan International (RTI). Questionable practices included irregular temperatures inside refrigerators and an absence of a list showing purchased ingredients. If the problems were not improved within a certain period, the restaurants could face fines between NT$60,000 (US$1,800) and NT$200 million, officials said.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) announced Saturday evening that the total number of people affected by the bongkrek acid case had increased by three to 28. However, 19 of the cases had already left hospital and were resting at home, per CNA.
MOHW Vice Minister Victor Wang (王必勝) said that one of the new cases had visited the Raohe Street branch of the Malaysian chain instead of the Xinyi District one. The development might lead the investigation to expand, he said.
While not excluding any possibilities, Wang said the probability of intentional poisoning of the diners was low. Experts were still trying to find how and where the bongkrek acid might have originated. Just 1 milligram of the toxin can be fatal, with even smaller amounts can severely damage the kidneys, liver, and the intestinal tract.
