Taipei City Councilor Jian Shupei of the Democratic Progressive Party recently revealed that teachers and students of Jinhua Junior High School began to suffer from diarrhea and other symptoms after eating nutritious lunch rolls, questioning the failure of the school's sample retention and city government reporting mechanism. The Taipei City Government and the Education Bureau issued tough press releases several times, refuting the relevant accusations as "unfounded rumors" and "rumors." Many KMT lawmakers also went to support the city government. However, Huang Qiqing, the principal of Jinhua Junior High School, issued the latest open letter, confirming that the school had indeed received reports of illness from three students one after another, and apologized to the affected students. This newspaper compiled the complete timeline and relevant details of the case.
September 4 (the day of the incident)
The nutritious lunch menu of Jinhua Junior High School that day included "umami rolls". According to parents’ petitions and students’ subsequent reactions, the menu was originally intended to be boiled rolls, but when they were actually delivered, they appeared to be thickened with an orange-red color. Some students reported an abnormal smell and refused to eat it. Another petition stated that some teachers and students began to suffer from diarrhea, vomiting and other gastrointestinal discomfort symptoms after eating.
September 9 (5 days after meal)
The principal's latest open letter reveals the first notification: Huang Qiqing, the principal of Jinhua Junior High School, restored the chronology of the incident in an open letter released on September 26, pointing out that after the meal was served on September 4, the school received the first official notification of student physical discomfort "five days later". Since the 48-hour storage period for campus lunch samples has expired at this time, the lunch samples provided on that day have been processed in accordance with regulations, and no physical samples are available for subsequent testing.
September 11 (7 days after meal)
The principal said that two more students reported feeling unwell: According to Huang Qiqing's latest open letter, "two days after" the school received the first official notification, two more students reported feeling unwell. The school then initiated relevant reporting and processing procedures to continuously monitor the students' health status, and through the parent-teacher conference class representative group, parents were reminded to pay attention and inquire about the students' physical conditions after meals that day.
September 12 (8 days after meal)
Jinhua Junior High School held a parent-teacher meeting to explain to parents that the lunch samples had been discarded because they exceeded the 2-day sample retention period, and there were no more samples available for testing.
September 23
Jian Shupei broke the news: Taipei City Councilor Jian Shupei received petitions from parents and publicly disclosed the matter. He criticized the Taipei City Education Bureau for taking a "passive approach" to food safety issues, and even suspected of ordering "not to deal with it for the time being." He questioned the city and school's reporting and sample retention mechanisms for major flaws.
Chiang Wanan did not respond directly: When asked by the media, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan only said that "the Education Bureau will explain it to the public in a moment." When reporters asked about the negative attitude of the Education Bureau, Chiang Wanan strode away without responding.
The Education Bureau of Bei City refutes the "rollover": The Education Bureau issued a press release "There is no collective food poisoning in Jinhua Junior High School. The Education Bureau has refuted the false accusations and has overturned". It stated that only three students in the school reported discomfort with varying symptoms, and there were no abnormalities in other classes. The possibility of food poisoning was basically ruled out, and it strongly condemned the false accusations from the outside world.
The Health Bureau forwarded a press release from the Education Bureau: The Taipei City Health Bureau stated that it had not received reports of suspected food poisoning or poor food hygiene from medical institutions and schools. It then reposted a press release from the Education Bureau in response to a member of the Council, adding that it would send personnel to conduct inspections in accordance with the "Code of Good Food Hygiene Practices" to focus on the workplace environment, food handling, personnel hygiene, and vector prevention.
September 24
Chiang Wanan supports the bureau in interview: Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan publicly supports the Education Bureau, emphasizing that both the school and the group catering industry have issued clarification statements, reiterating that any accusations must be justified.
Shen Boyang expressed his criticism: In response to Jian Shupei’s accusation of diarrhea and vomiting in multiple classes, but the Education Bureau counter-attacked the news, Shen Boyang pointed out that this case is the same as the recent road tree controversy. The city government did not clearly explain the problem and the inspection report. Everyone was accused of spreading rumors after discussing the facts. This attitude of the city government is unacceptable.
The Education Bureau issued a press release for the second time: The Education Bureau issued a press release, "Facts have proved that the congressman made a false accusation. The Education Bureau called on Commissioner Shen Boyang not to get on the bus after seeing it roll over." It strongly condemned Jian Shupei for being obsessed with changing the concept, and criticized Shen Boyang for following the "rollover rumor" without providing evidence, confusing right and wrong and slandering front-line colleagues. It demanded that the two publicly apologize for causing social panic and hurting the dignity of the grassroots.
September 25
Shen Boyang reiterated that the students were indeed unwell: Shen Boyang said that some students did report diarrhea, which is a fait accompli; what the city government should do is to collect and submit tests and announce the results, but now it accuses others of making rumors, questioning, "Are we accusing these students of having diarrhea as a rumor?" He bluntly said that the way the whole matter was handled was quite strange, and he called on the city government to adjust its response.
September 26
Jiang Wanan blasts "cognitive warfare": Faced with external doubts that the city's official press release has become a "competition press release," Jiang Wanan countered that Shen Boyang and Chien Shupei spread their opinions without fulfilling their verification responsibilities as public officials. "This is creating panic and selling fear. This is cognitive warfare." He also said that Shen Boyang once advocated a fifth column in the Legislative Yuan and found enemies in Taipei City.
Shen Boyang counter-criticized and shifted the focus: Shen Boyang responded that Jiang Wanan's frequent use of the label of "cognitive warfare" is just like the controversial rhetoric in the past, which is shifting the focus to cover up food safety issues; and emphasized that he was reflecting public opinion, and it was Jiang Wanan who was looking for enemies in Taipei City.
Principal Huang Qiqing issued an open letter: Huang Qiqing, the principal of Jinhua Junior High School, published an open letter on the school’s official website, fully explaining the timeline from the meal provision on September 4 to the subsequent notification of student discomfort. Huang Qiqing expressed his concern and apology to the students who felt unwell, felt uneasy while eating, and were affected by this incident. He stated that all administrative responsibilities will be borne by himself. Next, he will work with the teachers' association, parent association, education bureau, experts and scholars, and through the lunch supply committee to re-examine the food safety of nutritious lunches from the source, including meal acceptance, quality feedback, abnormal response, sample retention, school security notification and parent notification.
It is worth noting that the timing of Huang Qiqing’s latest open letter is different from the version previously released by the Taipei City Education Bureau. When the Education Bureau issued a press release on September 23, it stated that Jinhua Junior High School "received a student's report of diarrhea on September 11 on September 11." If calculated based on the "five days later" mentioned in the principal's open letter, the first official notification time should be September 9. The two school and city government public information differed by two days.
