SINGAPORE: Salmonella bacteria found at a Spize outlet was behind a mass food poisoning incident that left more than 80 people ill and caused dozens to be hospitalised, the authorities said on Friday (Dec 7).
The bacteria was found in both raw and ready-to-eat food at the restaurant's River Valley outlet – in samples of belacan egg fried rice, sambal belacan, raw chicken samples and kangkong (water spinach) and uncooked rice.
AdvertisementSalmonella was also found on the door handle of a cold room, the Ministry of Health (MOH), National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said at a joint media briefing.
[h=3]READ: SATS officer who consumed food from Spize dies[/h]Investigations found that the outbreak of salmonella gastroenteritis was “unusually severe”, suggesting that the food was likely to be heavily contaminated, the agencies said.
The operating licence of Spize River Valley will be terminated with immediate effect. Action will also be taken against the licensee for the hygiene lapses.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe other Spize restaurants – located at Bedok and Rifle Range Road – have been allowed to continue operating after checks by NEA found no evidence to link the salmonella outbreak to these outlets.
[h=3]READ: Food poisoning: Can you really avoid it?[/h]Seven food poisoning incidents were found to be linked to Spize River Valley, involving 82 people who had eaten food from the outlet between Nov 6 and 9. A total of 47 people were hospitalised.
The outlet was suspended on Nov 7 after the authorities found several hygiene lapses, including leaving ready-to-eat food uncovered in a chiller, not providing soap for hand-washing (the soap dispenser was faulty) and slotting knives for preparing ready-to-eat food in a gap between food preparation tables.
Mr Fadli Saleh, an auxiliary police officer with ground-handling firm SATS, was one of those hospitalised after consuming food supplied by the restaurant. He died on Nov 14. The cause of death is pending and it has been classified as a coroner's case.
On the same day, the authorities conducted a second joint inspection of the restaurant, where they discovered "severe irregularities". Seven unregistered food handlers were identified, food had been prepared outside the licensed kitchen area and food handlers had "poor personal hygiene and food preparation practices", they said.
There was no minimum duty of care at the restaurant to ensure meals were prepared safely, NEA said.
"We are so angry and upset about this," said NEA's director-general of environmental public health Derek Ho.
[h=3]READ: Mandarin Orchard food poisoning: Main ballroom forced to close after 175 fall ill at 4 separate events[/h]The update from the agencies comes amid other large-scale incidents of food poisoning. Most recently, banquet operations at Mandarin Orchard Singapore's main ballroom were suspended after 175 people fell ill with food poisoning and nine were hospitalised.
On Nov 23, 190 people fell ill with symptoms of gastroenteritis after consuming food prepared by restaurant group TungLok's catering arm.
On Nov 26, more than 130 students and teachers fell ill after consuming food prepared by FoodTalks Caterer and Manufacturer while attending a children's camp.
The NEA and AVA will step up checks on food establishments during the festive season, they said.
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