Taipei, May 18 (CNA) A decadelong spat over a high-end bakery's use of artificial ingredients in "all-natural" bread has ended with Taiwan's Supreme Court awarding NT$3.42 million (US$111,200) in compensation to duped consumers.
In a statement Thursday, the Consumers' Foundation said that Top Pot Bakery lost its appeal against a lower court ruling ordering it to pay 864 customers purchase-based compensation plus damages of NT$1,000 each.
The case started in August 2013, when a baker for Top Pot Bakery - which publicly claimed its products were free of artificial ingredients - confessed to a Hong Kong blogger that the chain did indeed use such additives.
The bakery chain, which was established in late 2010, offered refund or replacements following the revelation, but many consumers were unwilling to accept the offer.
In April 2014, the Consumers' Foundation filed a lawsuit with the Taipei District Court against former Top Pot Bakery Chairman Chuang Hung-ming (莊鴻銘), current chairman Hsu Hsun-ping (徐洵平) and entertainer Dee Hsu (徐熙娣), better known as Little S, asking for NT$25.6 million in compensation on behalf of 1,060 customers.
The consumer watchdog initially asked for the repayment of the original funds spent during purchase, plus three times that amount in punitive penalties and an additional NT$20,000 per person in psychological damages.
According to the Consumers' Foundation, Little S was listed as a defendant because she had used her celebrity status to promote Top...
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