TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taipei City Government's Department of Health announced Tuesday (March 26) evening that a suspected food poisoning incident at a restaurant in a department store has resulted in eight people feeling unwell, six of whom have sought medical treatment, while one death has been confirmed.
The department has ordered the restaurant to cease serving food.
The restaurant, located in the Xinyi District of Taipei City, has seen multiple patrons seek medical treatment, with one fatality reported.
Wang Pi-sheng, deputy minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), stated that due to the severity of the situation, samples will be sent to central testing. If the situation cannot be resolved, discussions will be held with toxicology experts to quickly clarify the situation.
Wang posted on Facebook that the suspected food poisoning case in a Taipei department store restaurant appears to be expanding.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC), accompanied by toxicology experts and epidemic prevention doctors, proactively inspected the restaurant Tuesday evening in hopes of identifying the cause of the incident.
Wang said that while it was initially unclear whether the incidents were related, there is now a high suspicion of a connection. He emphasized that all potentially poisonous food ingredients will be sampled, and all conceivable microbes and pathogens will be tested.
Typically, local governments handle food poisoning cases, which often present symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and dehydration. However, due to the escalating situation and the reported fatality, the severity level has been raised.