Taichung restaurant selling expired food to be fined NT$1.44 million

Taipei, April 16 (CNA) Wagyu Emperor, a grilled meat restaurant in Taichung's Xitun District, will be fined at least NT$1.44 million (US$44,261) after multiple expired food products were found in the restaurant's kitchen, the city government said Tuesday.

The Taichung City Health Bureau said it discovered the food safety violations during a search on Sunday, after being tipped off by one of the restaurant's former employees.

Inspectors found a range of expired products, including four cans of doubanjiang (bean chili sauce), two containers of kombu dashi broth, three jars of concentrated beverage syrups, 11 boxes of miso, 24 boxes of Morioka reimen noodles, and 18 boxes of various cuts of beef, the bureau said.

Following the search, the restaurant issued a statement saying that the expired food items were being saved for "employee training purposes" and had not been served to customers.

At the time, the health bureau responded that it was still investigating the matter but viewed the restaurant's claims "with a high level of suspicion."

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Taichung Health Bureau Director Tseng Tzu-chan (曾梓展) said his agency planned to issue fines later that day for the 12 types of expired food products that were found during the inspection.

Restaurants are typically given fines of NT$60,000 for each expired food product, or NT$120,000 if the expired products were used knowingly, meaning that in this case, the fine will be "at least NT$1.44 million," he said.

Wagyu Emperor has also been ordered closed because it has failed to provide records on product deliveries, inventory and sales, Tseng said, adding that if it was unable to do so by Wednesday, it will face an additional fine of between NT$30,000 and NT$3 million.

Meanwhile, the former employee who blew the whistle on the restaurant is entitled to a reward of 50 percent of the amount of the fine, or NT$720,000 of the NT$1.44 million in penalties that have been confirmed, Tseng said.

Wagyu Emperor opened last September and touted its use of premium wagyu beef imported directly from Japan. A two-person set menu at the restaurant cost NT$3,900.