Hangzhou restaurant accused of food poisoning suspends operations

The restaurant accused of providing suspicious food to a group of people has halted operations and further tests on the food have been conducted, according to the Office of the Food and Drug Safety Committee of West Lake District in Hangzhou on Sunday.

According to the preliminary investigation report, on the morning of Saturday, the West Lake District Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that Zhejiang Hospital Sandun Section received 18 cases of diarrhea, all of which were members of a certain performance team.

Upon receiving the report, the authorities of food safety, market supervision and disease control investigated the restaurant that provided catering services to the team. Currently, some of the affected individuals have been investigated, and a food hygiene investigation of the restaurant has been completed. And 41 relevant samples, including biological samples, from some patients, leftover food, and food samples have been sent to the laboratory for testing, with the test results still pending.

Subsequent actions will be determined based on these investigations and the implicated restaurant has suspended its operations.

Previously, the organizers of a renowned Chinese magician Liu Qian's national tour in Hangzhou issued an emergency notice stating that due to collective food poisoning among the staff of his team the performance scheduled for the evening of Saturday has been postponed to Monday evening. However, the performance originally scheduled for the Sunday evening will proceed as planned.