Family of 3 including young children hospitalised after eating at Punggol Haidilao outlet

Family of 3 hospitalised after dining at Haidilao outlet in Punggol

A family of three, including two young children, has been hospitalised after dining at the Haidilao branch at Northshore Plaza in Punggol.

The relevant authorities have since launched an investigation into this case.

The popular hotpot restaurant confirmed that it has received a report about this incident four days after it happened, and is cooperating with the authorities’ investigations.

Family of 3, including 2 children, fell ill after eating at Haidilao in Punggol

In a joint statement to MS News, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), Ministry of Health (MOH),  and National Environment Agency (NEA) confirmed that a family of three fell ill after allegedly consuming food from Haidilao Hot Pot restaurant at Northshore Plaza on 10 March, and was hospitalised.

The authorities added that they are currently investigating the incident.

According to Lianhe Zaobao, two of the affected persons are children, and the outlet in question is still in operation.

Branch manager received report about incident 4 days after it occurred

Speaking to Zaobao, the branch manager of the Northshore Plaza Haidilao Xu Xiaojun (transliterated from Mandarin) said that a woman visited the branch on 10 March with two children. They appeared to be around 10 years old and six years old respectively.

They were there from about 1.20pm to about 2.50pm, he said.

However, the branch manager claims to have received the complaint about the incident four days later, on 14 March.

“The woman said her nephew had a nosebleed, and that she and another person were not feeling well, adding that they are now at the hospital for checks. I immediately asked after them to follow-up on the situation.”

Authorities looking into the case, hotpot restaurant says it will cooperate

SFA and NEA subsequently visited the branch on Saturday (16 March) and Monday (18 March), Zaobao reported.

They retrieved samples of the food and soup base the family had consumed on the day, surveillance footage, as well as information of the restaurant’s pest extermination providers and food suppliers.

Xu checked in again with the woman on Saturday, but she replied that the medical checks were still ongoing.

“I asked her for her address with the intention to pay her a visit, but she hasn’t replied.”

Xu added that there were never problems with rats at the branch, and highlighted that they regularly engage pest extermination services to conduct checks and routine maintenance.

“On that day, we served 220 tables, but only this one table reported an issue four days later. As such, we cannot confirm whether there was a problem with our food, or something else the customers might have consumed,” Xu said.

“We will fully cooperate with the authorities, and hope the truth comes out soon.”

MS News has reached out to the outlet for more information.

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Featured image adapted from Northshore Plaza on Facebook.