No toxin found in samples from restaurant in food poisoning incident

04/01/2024 02:01 PM

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Photo taken from Polam Kopitiam's Facebook page

Taipei, April 1 (CNA) All 35 samples of food ingredients collected last week from the branch of a restaurant chain at the center of a recent food poisoning outbreak tested negative for the toxin Bongkrekic acid, Deputy Health Minister Victor Wang (王必勝) said Sunday.

The samples were collected March 26 from the Xinyi branch of the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam in Taipei, including flat rice noodles, pandan leaves, rice flour, soy sauce, bean sprouts, curry powder, turmeric powder, rice vinegar, pepper salt, shrimp chips, lemons, ketchup, Vinh Thuan flour for wet rice paper, and Himalayan pink salt grinder.

Other samples collected for testing included Sichuan peppercorn, cabbage, cucumber, yellow noodles, ginger, breadcrumbs, pearl barley, brown beech mushrooms and eggs.

However, no trace of Bongkrekic acid was found in the 35 food samples, Wang said on a post he published on social media Sunday night.

The restaurant branch received the sampled flat rice noodles on March 23 which it is believed were intended to replenish stock as the previous batch was about to be used up, Wang said.

Asked about the test results, Wang told CNA that he suspected something could have been wrong with the batch of flat rice noodles that was used up, because the noodles collected for examination were purchased on March 23 while most diners who fell ill ate at the Xinyi restaurant on March 24 or earlier.

As of 10 a.m. Monday, the number of people who have reported feeling ill after eating at Polam Kopitiam remains 31, including 29 people who ate at the Xinyi branch and two who dined at its Raohe branch, also in Taipei, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW).

Of the 31, two have died, five are in critical condition, three have been transferred to a general ward, and 21 are recuperating at home, the ministry's data showed.

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The MOHW also found that specimens from 14 patients, who all ate at the Xinyi branch, tested positive for Bongkrekic acid poisoning, while testing on the two who ate at the Raohe branch came back negative, Health Minister Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) told reporters before a legislative hearing Monday.

Regarding the source of the toxin, Hsueh said the investigation is ongoing but added it is believed the possibility the toxin came from abroad or was intentionally added is low.

The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration has declared the cases a serious food poisoning incident.

Bongkrekic acid is a rare toxin produced in fermented coconut or corn contaminated by the bacterium Burkholderia gladioli pathovar cocovenenans.

There is no treatment for Bongkrekic acid poisoning and consuming food contaminated with as little as 1 milligram of the acid can be fatal to humans.

(By Chen Chieh-ling and Evelyn Kao)

Enditem/AW