A recent case of mass food poisoning linked to a Vietnamese food stall in Taoyuan City has raised concerns about racial discrimination against Southeast Asian residents in Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Thursday that at least 514 people have become ill from eating food bought at the Zhongli market in Taoyuan, and that food samples from vendors there tested positive for salmonella and Bacillus cereus bacteria. The source of the outbreak is suspected to be a Vietnamese Bahn Mi stand. Zhongli market has a large number of food vendors selling Southeast Asian cuisine.
On August 9th, the FDA announced that it would begin a “foreign cuisine” inspection program to ensure vendors are meeting sanitation standards. Taoyuan City also launched its own inspection drive of “Southeast Asian” cold food vendors. Many netizens on social media have also been expressing their opinions that they don’t feel safe eating Southeast Asian food and criticizing the cleanliness of Southeast Asian people.
A Cambodian-Vietnamese bilingual influencer living in Taiwan Duy Quang (陳玉旺) spoke about the issue on Friday. He says that while a single vendor may have issues with their sanitation practices, it may also be caused by the overall environment or general food service practices. He asks if it is more general problems that are to blame for the outbreak, why would it only affect Southeast Asian vendors? Quang says he suspects that by specifically calling out Southeast Asian vendors the government may inadvertently encourage discrimination.