Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/29/2020
By: Chang Ming-hsuan, Yu Hsiao-han and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) Nine popular restaurants in several cities and counties across Taiwan have been caught violating food safety regulations, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official said Tuesday.

Some were using expired ingredients and others were found to have been cooking dishes using vegetables contaminated with excessive pesticide residue, the official said.

The findings were brought to light during the agency's April-July inspection checks of 164 restaurants, some of which are located in tourist attractions and some are popular restaurants that are highly evaluated on the internet, FDA specialist Chen Mei-chuan (陳美娟) said.

The examination of restaurant foods was launched as the COVID-19 pandemic has kept people on the island from traveling abroad due to border controls, who have therefore turned to domestic travel and local gourmet food purveyors, Chen said.

A total of nine restaurants failed the extensive checks, according to Chen, including the Sushiro Taipei Zhonghua Restaurant, which was found to have served a crab and shrimp salad dish below sanitation standards.{FULL  STORY]