Posted: July 2nd, 2010 - 1:47pm by Doug Powell

Officials in Taiwan said today dried tofu in vacuum-sealed plastic sacks was suspected in a series of botulinum poisoning cases.

Taiwan has seen eight botulinum poisoning cases involving 11 people since April. One person was killed, five remain hospitalized and five others have been discharged from hospitals after treatment.

The Department of Health said three soybean product factories use a sterilized vacuum packaging process, and that only tofu products that are thoroughly sterilized before being vacuum-packed should be stored or displayed in room temperature environments.

Products from factories that do not properly sterilize their dried tofu should be refrigerated until eating, health officials said.