In the 2024 Baolin Tea House mass poisoning case, 6 people were killed and 24 injured. After investigation, the prosecutor indicted the person in charge, Li Fangxuan, and five other people on charges of negligent death. After a trial of 1 year and 10 months, the Taipei District Court today sentenced the person in charge, Li Fangxuan, to 1 year and 10 months in prison for negligent death, the substitute chef Hu Qingfu was sentenced to eight months, the chef Sunday Hao was sentenced to a Yike fine in June, and the intern surnamed Ruan was sentenced to an Yike fine in April. Store manager Wang Shunde was not guilty of negligent death, but the prosecution for negligent injury was not accepted and can be appealed.
Looking back on the entire case, the Baolin Tea Room located in Xinyi A13, Far East Department Store, Xinyi District, Taipei was originally going to end operations at the end of March 2024. During this period, Hu Qingfu placed the unsealed Kueh Teow in a storage basket close to the ground and in the ditch without refrigeration.
Please read on...
Such a hot and humid environment is just conducive to the production of bunkeric acid toxin by the prototype strain of Burkholderia gladioli and cocotoxin. For Hu Qingfu's convenience, he put the vacuum-packed rice noodles in a large plastic bag, grabbed it with his own gloves and started cooking, and it took him 2 to 3 days to change the bag in his hand.
On the 16th of the same year, Zhou Zhouhao, Hu Qingfu and their interns put the unused kueh teow into the storage basket under the table, near the ground and in the ditch instead of storing it in the refrigerated space. On the 17th and 18th, they made meals in the same way and mixed the newly opened kueh teow with the previously unrefrigerated kuey teow.
Until March 19, when the incident occurred, Po Lam Teahouse was still using these rice kuey teow to make dishes. At this time, food poisoning also began to occur. As of March 24, a total of 33 people were injured and 6 people died. During this period, Po Lam Tea House used the same batch of cross-contaminated rice teow for cooking.
Prosecutors last year indicted five people, Li Fangxuan, Wang Shunde, Hu Qingfu, Sunday Hao and an intern surnamed Ruan, for violating food safety laws, negligent death, and negligent injury.
The prosecutor believed that Li Fangxuan failed to independently establish and implement an ingredient management system, and he also failed to fulfill his education and training obligations for the employees of the A13 Baolin Teahouse under his supervision so that the employees had complete food safety, hygiene and quality management execution capabilities. He also neglected food hygiene and safety, ignored consumer rights, shirks responsibility after committing the crime, shows no regrets, and has a bad attitude. Specifically, he requested a sentence of more than 4 years in prison.
Wang Shunde failed to independently establish and implement the food management system, nor did he fulfill his education and training obligations for the employees of the branch. His negligence was serious, and he made false confessions to health inspectors and prosecutors. However, he admitted his fault during the investigation stage, and his attitude after the crime was acceptable. He requested the court to impose an appropriate penalty.
Sunday Hao also failed to pay attention to the preservation method of the ingredients and failed to implement the handover of the ingredients. The negligence was serious. Although he did not deny some objective facts, he still confessed that he avoided the important and took the easy. His attitude after committing the crime was difficult to recognize as good. He requested the court to give him a heavier sentence.
The intern surnamed Ruan did not refrigerate the unsealed kway teow, causing the kway teow to be contaminated by bunkeric acid toxin, and did not implement the handover of ingredients. Her behavior should be criticized. However, because she had not worked for a long time, and she had confessed to the crime after committing the crime and had a good attitude, she requested the court to impose an appropriate punishment.
