Chef arrested from deadly food poisoning case

TAIPEI (TVBS News) — A food safety scandal at Polam Kopitiam, a popular restaurant in Taipei's Xinyi district, has led to the arrest of a substitute chef surnamed Hu on Thursday (March 28).

Hu is being investigated for violations of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation and involuntary manslaughter.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) confirmed at an emergency press conference in the evening that the deceased had tested positive for bongkrekic acid, marking the first such case in Taiwan.

The regular chef, surnamed Chou, was abroad at the time of the incident, leaving Hu in charge.

As of 5 p.m. Thursday, the food poisoning incident at Polam Kopitiam, located in Xinyi's A13 department store, affected 18 people. Ten have since returned home to recover, one is receiving treatment in a general ward, five are in intensive care, and two have died.

Polam Kopitiam's founder, Li Fang-hsuan, and representative, Chen Yi-fan, attended a meeting with Taipei's Department of Legal Affairs, where later, the head of the department, Lien Tang-kai, urged anyone who dined at the tea house between March 17 and March 25 to monitor their health.

There are currently 91 known transactions at the tea house during the period in question. The health department will post these transactions online, allowing customers to verify their dining dates and amounts spent.

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