CAUTION: Taiwan had zero cases of death from food poisoning for six years until last year, when two people died after eating wildlife, an FDA official said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 07, 2020
By: Lin Hui-chin and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday urged the public not to eat wildlife or unidentified wild plants, as they could be fatal, with nearly 7,000 people affected by food poisoning last year, including two deaths due to wildlife consumption.

The number of food poisoning incidents increased by nearly 50 percent last year, from 398 cases involving 4,616 people in the previous year to 503 cases involving 6,944 people, FDA data showed.

That figure was the second-highest in history, the FDA said, adding that the highest number was recorded in 1997, with 7,235 people.

Among the 503 cases, 87 were food poisoning clusters affecting 4,019 teachers and students, due to contaminated food provided by caterers, the agency said.    [FULL  STORY]