Over 100 hospitalized after meal at Taiwanese garment firm in Vietnam

• Food poisoning strikes 109 workers at Chinese garment firm in Vietnam
• Vietnam orders probe into food poisoning of Japanese students

More than 100 garment workers in the southern province of Binh Duong were rushed to hospital with food poisoning after a meal at their Taiwanese company on Tuesday.

Many workers started to experience nausea, vomiting and faintness less than an hour after having a meal of rice, fried ground fish, chicken, sour soup and stir-fried papaya at Apparel Far Eastern Vietnam, a subsidiary of Taiwan’s Far Eastern Group.

The workers were sent to several hospitals and clinics in the province.

The exact number of the affected workers has not been confirmed, but one hospital said it had received more than 100. In total, more than 1,000 workers had the meal.

Many workers said they had complained about the quality of the company’s meals to its labor union several times before.

Several workers had to stay overnight for treatment.

Last Saturday, 109 workers at a Chinese garment firm in neighboring Ho Chi Minh City were also admitted to hospital following a company lunch.

The city’s Food Safety Agency has suspended the company’s kitchen pending an investigation. A similar mass food poisoning case also occurred at the company five months ago.

Food poisoning in Vietnam mostly involves school and factory meals.

A report from the health ministry listed nearly 30 food poisoning cases in the first four months of this year that killed two people and sickened nearly 1,400 others.

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