A food blogger in Taiwan has been jailed after writing a critical restaurant review. The blogger, surnamed Liu, will be in the slammer for 30 days after writing that a restaurant's beef noodles were too salty, among other things.

But that's not all: Liu will also be on probation for two years and must compensate the disparaged restaurant nearly $7,000 (NT$200,000).

Lui's scathing review went up in July 2008 after she had tried dried noodles and side dishes from the restaurant. In her online review, Liu wrote that the food was too salty, the restaurant was unsanitary and had cockroaches, and that the owner was a "bully." The owner learned about the post from a regular customer and then filed charges, accusing her of defamation.

After the court found that Liu only tried one dish at the restaurant and found the criticism about cockroaches to be a narration of facts (even though Liu still maintains she saw them), it was ruled that Liu's criticism of the restaurant exceeded reasonable bounds and she was sentenced to jail time.

Food bloggers, be careful what you write and be sure to take pictures of what you eat and see!

[Photo (not of the actual restaurant) by Prince Roy, Flickr]

Filed under: Asia, Taiwan