The sight of a cockroach makes many people squirm and go to great lengths to avoid it.
So imagine the revulsion felt when the insect is found in one’s food — especially after having already eaten most of it.
That happened to a customer who purchased a bowl of wanton noodles at a food court in Toa Payoh.
Source: Jeffrey Linus Lee on Facebook
Worse still, when informed about it, the staff at the stall allegedly accused the customer of putting the cockroach in there herself.
In a Facebook post on 27 Apr, netizen Jeffrey Linus Lee said his parents were dining out on 26 Apr.
At 8.39pm, they visited the Koufu food court in Toa Payoh HDB Hub.
Source: Google Maps
His mother decided on wanton noodles from Pontian.
According to Mr Lee, his mother is usually unable to finish her food, so she gave part of it to his father.
She then tried to eat some of it but made a shocking discovery — what looked to be a cockroach in the bowl.
Source: Jeffrey Linus Lee on Facebook
Rather than having flown in later, the insect appeared to have already been cooked.
When his mother informed the stall about the cockroach, something even more unsettling allegedly happened.
The male staff manning the staff allegedly accused his mother of putting the insect there herself, Mr Lee said.
Source: Jeffrey Linus Lee on Facebook
Why would she do that, she asked, but the man was apparently not convinced.
He allegedly raised his voice, saying she just wanted a refund and challenged her to make a complaint.
This Mr Lee duly did, saying in the comments that he’d made a report to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and National Environment Agency (NEA).
Speaking to STOMP, he also revealed that he’d made a report to Koufu and Pontian Wanton Noodles too.
He said he’ll be monitoring his mother’s health, adding that she has suffered an upset stomach but is otherwise okay.
Rather than compensation, what Mr Lee is concerned about is the stall’s hygiene and staff attitude, he said.
Elaborating on the incident, he said the staff did give his mother a refund, but sarcastically said, “Eat until so little left then ask for refund.”
Mr Lee explained that things would’ve been “perfectly fine” if the man had apologised and said he’ll look into it.
However, he wasn’t apologetic at all and was instead rude, which made the incident tougher to swallow.
In response to queries from STOMP, SFA said they’re investigating the incident.
They urged members of the public to report such incidents to SFA via their online feedback form.
As for Koufu, they have offered vouchers to the customer involved and invited them to return to the food court, they told Shin Min Daily News.
They’ve also disciplined the staff member concerned.
Mr Lee confirmed that Koufu had contacted him. They said they’d called for pest control and offered him a S$20 voucher “out of goodwill”.
However, he will not accept it. In a subsequent post on Friday (5 May), he explained why — he apparently took issue with the “out of goodwill” part.
Source: Jeffrey Linus Lee on Facebook
He didn’t think the move was out of goodwill, and would rather the company resolve the issue as a priority.
In a comment below, he added that he doesn’t need the voucher, even if it lasted for a lifetime.
He’d rather the company invest the funds into pest control, staff attitude and hygiene control management.
Pontian is also aware of the incident and has contacted the customer via Facebook, they told STOMP.
A spokesman said they “arrange for pest control and quality checks on a regular basis” and “are constantly improving our service quality to provide better service for all our customers”, adding,
We have educated the workers about proper manners on service and will keep improving our service quality to provide better service for all our customers.
Mr Lee said Pontian has been trying to add him as a friend on Facebook, but asked,
Why should I add them when they can contact me like what STOMP did and I can reply them?
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time customers have found a “special ingredient” in the form of a cockroach in their food.
In 2022, a cockroach was allegedly found in porridge from a Tampines stall and the pests were found crawling around produce in Giant at Toa Payoh.
This year alone, half a cockroach was found in tofu from a Bukit Panjang hawker centre, while a cockroach was found in curry chicken rice from a restaurant in Yishun.
Most recently, remnants of a dead cockroach were also discovered in biscuits from a Sengkang minimart.
Hopefully, these incidents will prompt business owners and their staff to take hygiene more seriously.
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Featured image adapted from Jeffrey Linus Lee on Facebook and Google Maps.
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