The owner of a bakery in Vung Tau, a popular beach city in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, southern Vietnam, was fined VND125 million (US$4,920) for her role in a food poisoning incident which involved 342 victims, with one of them dead.

The administration in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province on Wednesday issued the decision to fine Nguyen Thi Thanh Thao, the owner of the Co Ba Ben Dinh bakery, situated at 06 Nguyen An Ninh Street in Vung Tau City, where xoi (sticky rice) was also sold.

The bakery committed four administrative violations, including failing to produce food on the one-way principle, which means the sequence of activities within the kitchen did not follow a specific direction.

People who directly processed food at the bakery did not wear gloves, while the bakery operated without a food safety certificate and sold food that caused poisoning for more than five people.

The bakery owner was also asked to cover the treatment costs for the affected customers.

The food poisoning incident started late last month, involving 342 customers, including children, the elderly, pregnant women, and handicapped people.

All affected patients exhibited the same symptoms, including abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue, after eating banh mi at Co Ba Ben Dinh.

Local authorities then identified Salmonella, a foodborne pathogen, as the cause of the mass food poisoning.

The bacteria were detected in all tested samples of banh mi ingredients from the bakery.

Contaminated items included boiled pork, pork pate, pork roll, pork sauce, and vegetables.

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