In Singapore, it is an offence to pack food in a facility without a licence to sell as all ingredients are subject to checks by the authorities.
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) is investigating 2 cases where food was manufactured and sold illegally.
The food at the facilities was destined for Scarlett Supermarket, which has 3 outlets here, including 1 at Chinatown.
Neither facility has a licence to manufacture food for other businesses.
On 8 Jul, SFA officers found a food operator at Admiralty Street was illegally processing and packing food meant for a business.
The premises contained packaged food that would’ve gone to Scarlett Supermarket to be sold.
There are items like smoked pork trotters, smoked pork hock, smoked tofu rolls, and smoked pig ears.
The next day, on 9 Jul, officers found another retail shop located at Beach Road. SFA didn’t reveal the establishment’s name.
The shop was pre-packing sausages and meat jerky and supplying them to a supermarket.
SFA found that the shop doesn’t have a licence to conduct a non-retail food business, although it has a licence to sell prepacked food at its premises.
In the interest of public health, SFA ordered Scarlett Supermarket to stop sales of food products from the 2 operators.
SFA also ordered the operators to stop producing and selling these products.
Those who bought the products are advised to not eat them. A full list of the affected products can be found here.
The Sale of Food Act mandates that a food manufacturing facility must have a valid licence.
Illegal food manufacturing can be punishable with up to a $5,000 fine.
A 2nd offence can be punishable with up to a $10,000 fine or 3 months’ jail, or both.
SFA reminds other operators to have a food business licence before they can supply it to other businesses.
Food safety is taken extremely seriously, and there’s a need to ensure that we know the food we’re getting is safe to eat.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook.
Following the incident, netizens felt compelled to reconsider pork consumption.
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