TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Fifteen members of a tour group from Taichung experienced fever, vomiting, and diarrhea after a 5 p.m. dinner in Kinmen on Monday (May 27).
Kinmen County Public Health Bureau said it was notified shortly after members of the tour group came down with suspected food poisoning. Health officials visited the hospital to check on the tour group and investigated four restaurants visited by the group during their multi-day itinerary in Kinmen, per UDN.
All 15 affected tourists improved after visiting Kinmen Hospital's emergency room at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday (May 28). After discharge, they were healthy enough to return to Taiwan proper in the afternoon.
Kinmen County Public Health Bureau said inspections of restaurants visited by the the tour group found multiple hygiene violations. This included freezers unable to reach the required temperature of minus 18 C, water accumulation on kitchen floors, ingredients placed directly on the ground, and lack of health reports for kitchen staff.
The health bureau gave the restaurants limited time to comply with health safety standards or face a fine between NT$60,000 (US$1,900) and NT$20,000,000 (US$622,000). Failure to make such improvements would result in business closure and the cancellation of operating licenses, with restaurants required to wait one year for re-registration.
Kinmen Public Health Bureau Director Tsai Chien-hsin (蔡建鑫) defined food poisoning as "two or more people who ingest the same food and have similar symptoms.” Tsai added that if the illness is caused by botulinum toxin, chemical substances, or other natural toxins, a single individual can also be considered a case of food poisoning.
The health bureau said lab results from environmental samples collected at the restaurant as well as samples from suspected food poisoning victims would be available within one to two weeks. The source of the suspected food poisoning has yet to be identified.
