Two caterers have been suspended in connection to the ByteDance food poisoning incident on Tuesday (30 July) that affected 130 people in total, the authorities said.
Source: Google Maps
The businesses were Yun Hai Yao Pte Ltd and Pu Tien Services Pte Ltd.
The suspension of the two caterers’ food business operations was announced in a joint media release by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (31 July).
The suspension took effect from 31 July and will last till further notice.
Yun Hai Yao runs the Yun Nans restaurant chain. Only the outlet located at Northpoint City mall in Yishun is affected by the suspension.
Source: Google Maps
Pu Tien Services is the central kitchen and catering kitchen of the Putien restaurant chain. It is located in the Super Industrial Building at 2 Senoko South Road.
During the suspension, the two licensees must clean and sanitise their premises, including equipment and utensils. All ready-to-eat food and perishable food items should also be disposed of.
Before they can resume work, all food handlers working on the premises will also be required to reattend and pass the Food Safety Course Level 1 and test negative for foodborne pathogens.
The appointed Food Hygiene Officer can only resume working on the premises in this role if they reattend and pass the Food Safety Course Level 3.
The Yun Nans outlet in Northpoint City was closed on Wednesday afternoon at about noon, reported Shin Min Daily News.
SFA officers were seen questioning employees on the premises, according to Lianhe Zaobao.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
They were also seen taking away ingredients in plastic bags and collecting evidence using test tubes.
The officers remained at the scene even at 4.30pm.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao
Yun Nan’s’ Chief Executive Officer Tommy Lu told Zaobao that the food delivered to ByteDance was prepared by its Northpoint City branch.
He said it had been supplying food to ByteDance for about a month without problems.
Their employees had also eaten the same food at noon on the day of the incident without feeling any discomfort, he added.
He noted that the affected individuals didn’t solely eat the food provided by Yun Nans.
The rest of their outlets will open for business as normal, he also said.
Putien told Zaobao that it would suspend its catering kitchen to cooperate with the authorities and await the results of the investigation.
All their restaurants will remain open.
According to Putien’s website, the chain has 19 restaurants across Singapore.
A total of 130 people were affected in the incident at the ByteDance office on Tuesday, SFA and MOH said.
They had suffered gastroenteritis after consuming food supplied by Yun Hai Yao and Pu Tien Services.
Of that number, 17 were hospitalised and are in stable condition, while the rest sought outpatient treatment, self-medicated, or recovered without treatment.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told MS News that it sent 47 people to hospital on Tuesday.
Source: 8world News on Facebook
The decision to suspend the two caterers was thus made in view of the severity of the incident.
A ByteDance employee had told Zaobao that affected employees were suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea on Tuesday, and the smell of vomit still lingered in parts of the office.
The canteen serving Chinese cuisine on the 26th floor is now closed.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps and Google Maps.
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