Polam Kopitiam owner, chefs indicted for negligent homicide

Taipei, Jan. 21 (CNA) Five individuals connected to Polam Kopitiam, including the owner and chefs of the Taipei restaurant, were indicted on Tuesday for negligent homicide in connection with a food poisoning case that resulted in six deaths last year, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office said.

The fatal food poisoning case, which occurred in late March last year, resulted in 33 reported illnesses -- including six individuals who later died -- after dining at the Xinyi branch of the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam in Taipei, deputy chief prosecutor Kao I-shu (高一書) told a news conference.

Polam Kopitiam owner, surnamed Li (黎), manager of the Xinyi branch, surnamed Wang (王), two chefs, surnamed Chou (周) and Ho (胡), and an intern at the restaurant, were all indicted for negligent homicide, negligent injury, and violation of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, Kao said.

Regarding the defendants' offenses, Kao stated they all understood that flat rice noodles -- a key ingredient in the dishes consumed by all the victims in the case -- should be stored at low temperatures once the package has been opened.

However, Ho, Chou, and the intern "carelessly placed" opened packages of flat rice noodles in a storage basket on the lower shelf of a kitchen table, near the floor and drainage system, at room temperature from an unspecified date in March until March 24, Kao said.

The three individuals continued to serve customers the improperly stored noodles, he added.

In addition, Ho failed to follow basic food safety practices, such as preventing cross-contamination, by repeatedly using the same plastic bag as a glove to handle flat rice noodles opened at different times and by mixing noodles from different packages, Kao said.

As for the reason why bongkrekic acid -- a rare and deadly toxin detected in all victims of the food poisoning incident -- was produced, Kao explained that it was due to the "favorable environment" that allowed the bacterium Burkholderia gladioli to grow and generate the toxin.

According to Kao, the Far Eastern Xinyi A13 Department Store, where the restaurant was located, turned off its air conditioning system after business hours, and Ho, Chou and the intern routinely hosed down the kitchen floors at the end of their night shifts, allowing wastewater to flow into the drainage system near the storage basket.

Such hot and humid conditions, combined with Ho, Chou, and the intern's mishandling of flat rice noodles, resulted in food items containing flat rice noodles sold between March 19 and 24 being contaminated with bongkrekic acid, he added.

Kao said the prosecutors office is asking the court to impose a fixed-term imprisonment of no less than four years and two months for Ho's actions and no less than four years for Li's actions.

Li, the owner of Polam Kopitiam, failed to establish and enforce a food safety management system at the restaurant, attempted to shift blame after the incident and showed no remorse, Kao explained.

As for Wang and the intern, Kao said that the office recommended "an appropriate sentence," while suggesting "a heavier penalty" for Chou, without specifying the suggested sentence for the three.

According to Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of China (Taiwan's official name), "a person who negligently causes the death of another shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years, short-term imprisonment, or a fine of no more than NT$500,000 (US$ 15,273)."

In response to a CNA inquiry about the exact cause of the food poisoning incident, specifically the origin of the toxin, the Prosecutors Office said that evidence from autopsy reports and surveillance footage from the kitchen, is "sufficient to determine" that the food responsible for the incident was the flat rice noodles.

Those flat rice noodles "were contaminated with bongkrekic acid at the Polam Kopitiam A13 branch," the prosecutors office said, without further addressing or offering proof as to the origin of the bacterium Burkholderia gladioli.