2 dead, 4 critically ill after eating at chain restaurant in Taipei

2 dead, 4 critically ill after eating at chain restaurant in Taipei

2024-03-27

An outbreak of food poisoning in Taipei has left two people dead and at least four critically ill. The victims had all dined at a Malaysian chain restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District. An investigation is underway to identify the cause of the outbreak.

Lin Chia-mo
Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital physician
The food poisoning caused acidosis. The patient died despite efforts to save him.

A second death has been reported in connection to a Polam Kopitiam restaurant in Taipei. The victim was a 66-year-old man surnamed Yang, who ate at the restaurant on March 19. He developed diarrhea that night and went to Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital for treatment on March 21.

Daughter of victim
He ate at the restaurant at midday on March 19. He had ordered char kway teow. Later that day he experienced diarrhea, having about 30 bowel movements. By the early hours of March 21, he was sweating profusely. His bed and pillow were all wet. But when he was transferred to a regular ward, he was still in good spirits.

When Yang was admitted to hospital, it was unclear whether he had food poisoning. His case was linked to the restaurant outbreak only after March 26, when New Taipei’s Department of Health alerted the hospital.

Lin Chia-mo
Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital
We only realized there was a connection after the news broke out. It turns out it was food poisoning. We didn’t know what he could’ve eaten. We were all making guesses as to what could have caused such severe liver and kidney failure.

Chen Yen-yuan
Taipei Department of Health
The patients had eaten char kway teow, or rice noodles, and developed symptoms within 12 hours. In a very short time, their conditions deteriorated into liver failure and septic shock.

Taipei’s Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration have taken boxes of ingredients from the restaurant for testing. For now, the prime suspect is rice noodles, which were eaten by all patients in the cluster. Some doctors say the noodles may have been contaminated with bongkrekic acid, which is lethal in even small quantities.

Wu Shou-mei
Food and Drug Administration
Whether bongkrekic acid is to blame remains to be investigated. For now it’s all just speculation, because we’re going to need at least two weeks to cultivate microbial cultures.

Testing is underway on samples from the restaurant and the patients, which include stool samples.

Polam Kopitiam’s branch in Xinyi was scheduled to close permanently on March 31. The two dead victims and four critically ill patients had eaten stir-fried rice noodles at the branch between March 19 and 22. Theories behind the outbreak range from accidental poisoning to malicious sabotage. An investigation has been launched to find the source of contamination, and to determine whether the ingredients were in proper condition.

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