Woman faints hours after burger meal

Woman faints hours after burger meal
She and two friends who ate from same restaurant also have stomach trouble
THE three women wanted a quick lunch, so they stepped into a McDonald’s outlet on North Bridge Road.
By Tan May Ping and Geraldine Yeo
12 May 2009

THE three women wanted a quick lunch, so they stepped into a McDonald’s outlet on North Bridge Road.

Two of them had diarrhoea later. A female friend who ate their take-away also had the same problem.

They claim it was the McDonald’s food, which they had on Tuesday, that made them all ill.

Miss Layanthi Sellahewa, 29, was the worst hit. She had a double cheeseburger.

She and her friends are students from a private tuition school in the vicinity.

At 6.30pm that day, Miss Sellahewa said she started to feel uneasy and her stomach felt bloated. A bout of diarrhoea followed.

‘That night, I was sweating and feeling giddy,’ the Sri Lankan national said.

She claimed she got up five or six times to use the toilet. She lives in a single room in a Newton hostel and shares the toilet with other residents on the same level.

‘Around 4.40am, I made the last visit to the toilet,’ she said.

It was then that she fainted on the toilet floor next to the sinks.

She said: ‘Luckily for me, a girl from my dormitory was also in the toilet at that time. She helped me up and back to my room.’

She did not realise it at first but she had hit her head on the floor when she fainted. While walking back to her room, she felt pain on the left side of her head where it was swollen.

When she went to school the next day, she found out that two of her friends who had eaten food from the same outlet the day before had also fallen ill.

Miss Sellahewa had taken packed food for MissCheah Pei Shan, 24, who works at the school.

Half an hour after eating her Filet-O-Fish meal, Miss Cheah said she felt her stomach churning and she had diarrhoea.

‘I went to the toilet four times until I went home at 10pm,’ she said.

Later, she took two small bottles of charcoal pills, and felt better. The third person who fell ill, Miss Claire Chow, 22, also took charcoal pills.

Miss Sellahewa went to the doctor that afternoon, and was given medicine for her diarrhoea and a referral letter to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for an X-ray to check for head injuries.

Miss Sellahewa claimed she did not eat anything else that day except cereal for breakfast. The other two said they did not eat anything before the McDonald’s meal.

The women said they did not share their food.

First time

Miss Cheah said she eats at McDonald’s three or four times a week, and nothing of this sort has ever happened before.

‘It could be in the handling of the food. I hope the company will look into it,’ added MissCheah.

Miss Sellahewa said she sent an e-mail complaint through the McDonald’s Singapore website last Wednesday.

She said the company called her a few times and offered to reimburse her medical expenses, but she declined.

‘I don’t care about the money,’ she said, ‘I’m talking about people’s health and lives here.’

When contacted, McDonald’s Restaurants communications director Linda Ming said the company is aware of the incident and has contacted MissSellahewa to ask after her.

She said: ‘We have not received any other food-related customer complaints about McDonald’s at North Bridge Road and believe this is an isolated incident.

‘We take all feedback and complaints seriously and are investigating the matter.’

She said the company is also following up with Miss Sellahewa.
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Mouldy lime cubes bought from T3 shop

Mouldy lime cubes bought from T3 shop

A STOMPer bought this Malacca product from a shop at Changi Airport’s Terminal 3, and found out that the lime pieces were mouldy.

The STOMPer says:

“The lime pieces are supposed to be coated with yellow ‘powder’ and taste fragrant.

“In this case, there are white patches on them, and they taste stale and mouldy.”

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Worker at Bishan stall defrosts chicken wings with rainwater

Worker at Bishan stall defrosts chicken wings with rainwater

STOMPer Sandy saw a stall worker at a bazaar in Bishan defrosting frozen chicken wings using rainwater.

From the video, apparently the woman left the frozen chicken wings underneath the rainwater falling from the canvas covering the stall.

She said:

“I came across this unhygienic stall at the Bishan Bus Interchange bazaar on Tuesday (April 28) when I was there for lunch.

“It was raining heavily that afternoon and I saw this worker defrosting her chicken wings under the canvas using rainwater.

“This is so disgusting and I really feel everyone should know about this.

“Attached is the video clip which I managed to take.”

Stall worker uses rainwater to defrost chicken

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Ant ‘faints’ in my hot prawn soup

Ant ‘faints’ in my hot prawn soup

A STOMPer found an ant in his prawn soup, and joked that it might have probably “fainted” in it because it was so hot.

Said the STOMPer:

“See what I saw? Yup! You saw it.

“The prawn’s last meal? Hee…Anyway, it’s all right for this round since I’ve been eating from this stall for years.

“More or less I understand it’s not their fault as it might have accidentally flown into the food when it was still hot, because it was hot and the ant fainted on the spot and ended up in my plate.

“Everyone makes mistakes, likewise for the ant. Forgive and forget ya?”

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Roach in meat tray at IMM Giant

Roach in meat tray at IMM Giant

STOMPer Kang was out shopping at IMM Giant when to his horror, he spotted this roach scuttling among the meat tray. He says:

“Was shopping at IMM Giant when I saw this roach in the tray.

“It scared the sh*t out of me.”

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Rats, the customers have gone too!

Rats, the customers have gone too!
Hawkers at the Geylang Serai Temporary Market claim business has dropped despite the recent spring cleaning
THE rats are gone. But so too, the customers.
25 April 2009

THE rats are gone. But so too, the customers.

That is the irony facing hawkers and stallholders at the Geylang Serai Temporary Market.

The market got a thorough scrub-down on 8 and 9 Apr – pest controllers netted 122 rats, and stalls were scrubbed clean by hawkers.

The spring cleaning followed a mass food poisoning incident that killed two and affected 154 people who ate at the Rojak Geylang Serai stall.

It was the worst mass food poisoning incident in Singapore.

The irony is that the acute awareness among the hawkers about hygiene and the spring cleaning have not erased lingering doubts among customers.

When The New Paper visited the market on Wednesday afternoon, there was not a trace of rats.

But business, too, isn’t the same as before, stallholders and hawkers said.

Malay food stallholder Mohammad Affandi, 49, said: ‘After the newspapers published reports on the number of rats caught here, the hygiene improved, but not business.’

He claimed that his business had fallen by 70 per cent since the food poisoning cases broke.

Stallholders said that despite reducing their output, they still have trouble selling all their food or produce by the end of the day.

Mr Puah Peng Liong, 53, a vegetable seller, said in Mandarin: ‘I work from 3.30am to about 5.30pm every day.

‘Sometimes, I stay open till about 7pm. But my business has dropped by 50 per cent.’

Hard to do business

Many felt it was unfair that their business had to suffer even though they were not responsible for the food poisoning.

Mr Ng Tiong Chew, 46, who sells dried foodstuff at the wet market, said in Mandarin: ‘In the past, whether or not there were rats, people would come.

‘But because of the rojak problem, they don’t come anymore.’

But he added that there were probably still a few rats around.

‘I used to see rats running around. Now, no more. The truth is, as long as you go to a wet market, you can see rats,’ he said.

It is also harder to do business now, said Mr Ng, as the National Environment Agency (NEA) has now enforced stricter rules on how goods can be laid out in their stalls.

He added: ‘Now they say I cannot put something along the path outside my stall, as it will block other people.’

Stallholders said NEA officers now visit the wet market and hawker centre at about 6am daily to check on their stalls.

Pest controllers also arrive every evening to put glue on cardboards in between stalls to trap the rats.

Poultry seller Lim Bock Lam, 49, said: ‘(The place) is very clean, very good now. It’s not the same like last time.’

An NEA spokesman said: ‘NEA has intensified hygiene inspections at food centres, including Geylang Serai Temporary Market.

‘NEA will continue with frequent inspections to oversee that the management committees of all temporary markets maintain a good standard of cleanliness and hygiene.’

Joanna Hor Peixin, newsroom intern

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Roach found in char kway teow, yet stall owner refuses to apologise

Roach found in char kway teow, yet stall owner refuses to apologise

STOMPer Kanna’s colleague was enjoying a plate of the famous Outram Park char kway teow for lunch when he bit into something strange. To his horror, it was a cockroach.

When they confronted the stall-owner, they were made even unhappier by his lack of remorsefulness as the latter did not even apologise.

STOMPer Kanna tells STOMP:

“This happened today (April 24) at about 2.30 – 3pm at Hong Lim Complex.

“My colleague had bought a plate of char kway teow from the Outram Park famous char kway teow stall, #02-18.

“Suddenly, he bit into something strange and to his horror, he spat out a cockroach.

“We confronted the stall owner, but instead of apologising and feeling remorseful, we were treated with the can’t-be-bothered attitude.

“The stall owner only wanted to return us the money for that plate of char kway teow.

“So, we reported this matter to the National Environment Agency (NEA).

“But guess what, they told us that they will run a check in three working days as that is their SOP.

“By the time the NEA officers go down, the stall would have gotten rid of all the evidence and have their stall cleaned up.

“I think they have to go down immediately, why wait three days?”

No linking of hygiene ratings to food stall licence

No linking of hygiene ratings to food stall licence
By Hasnita Majid, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 22 April 2009 1818 hrs

	Photos 1 of 1 Hawker centre (file picture)
	Video No linking of hygiene ratings to food stall licence

SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA) has no plans to link the grading system of food stalls to the renewal of their licence.

It will continue to use the system to gauge the cleanliness and hygiene at hawker centres.

Hygiene at food stalls has been in the spotlight following the recent mass food poisoning case at the Geylang Serai Temporary Market.

The Health Ministry has also suggested that the renewal of food stall tenders at hospitals be linked to their hygiene ratings.

However, Environment Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said that while he welcomed the suggestion, such a measure will not be implemented at hawker centres.

He said: “Mr Khaw has made some very helpful comments about hospital canteens, that’s his prerogative and we welcome such a move. If more food establishments want a higher benchmark, then it’s their prerogative.

“If we just penalise them just because they are (graded) Cs and Ds, there may be other implications. I think some hawkers have already mentioned… that this may affect their livelihood.

“So, rather than make it a legal requirement, we will work with them. On the part of NEA, we will continue to work with the hawkers and hawkers’ association to improve their hygiene standard.”

Dr Yaacob said the grading system is a sound and robust one. And because of the system, more food stalls are now graded A or B, compared to 1997 when the scheme was started. Currently, only seven out of 5,000 hawker stalls are graded D.

The environment minister added that consumers also play an important part.

“If the consumers decide that ‘I’m not going to patronise a C (graded stall) but I’m going to patronise a B (graded stall)’, then the signal sent (to the hawkers) is that ‘Hey, at the end of the day, I better improve’,” said Dr Yaacob, who is also the Water Resources Minister.

Dr Yaacob said one way of improving hygiene standards is to implement the Hawker’s Upgrading Programme. In fact, 99 per cent of all stalls in the programme have received an A or B grade.

“So it shows that as we begin to improve the ambience… better design, better layout, more places for cleaning, they (stallholders) can do a better job in terms of improving their hygiene standard. But whatever we say, lapses can occur whether you are an A or C,” he said.

Dr Yaacob said NEA is also finalising enforcement action against the owner of the rojak stall in the Geylang Serai food poisoning case.

The minister was speaking at the launch of an S$8 million 3R Fund, as part of Earth Day. The Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3R) Fund aims to co-pay up to 80 per cent of the costs of new projects that can lead to waste minimisation and recycling of products.

The Regent Singapore, which already has a recycling programme since 2007, plans to apply for the fund.

The hotel’s recycling programme has helped to reduce the amount of waste disposed by more than 40 per cent – from 720 tonnes to 400 tonnes per year.

The Fund is open to all companies and Singapore-registered organisations.

The Regent Singapore’s director for engineering, Lee Baharuddin, said: “We are looking for a machinery that can compact all the recycled waste, because currently we are using a lot of waste bins, almost 200 waste bins in the hotel. We are trying to reduce that.”

The Regent said recycling has helped to reduce its waste disposal costs by 12 per cent every year. This is because it receives a S$7,000 rebate yearly for the wastes collected.

The government is expected to release soon a blueprint that sets its long-term recycling target.

– CNA/ir

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Staff at ban mian store claims wire sponge remnant is ‘ginger’

Staff at ban mian store claims wire sponge remnant is ‘ginger’

STOMPer Gracie‘s colleague had a nasty experience with this ban mian store at Amara food court, where she was served a dishwashing sponge instead of breaded fish cake.

What was more appalling was the staff’s claim that the wire sponge remnant was just ginger. Gracie says:

“Take a look carefully, it does look like breaded fish cake but it is not.

“Amidst the Indian rojak and steamboat food poisoning case, there are definitely many other shocking cases out there waiting to be found out and claim more victims to food poisoning.

“Today (Apr 14), my colleagues bought takeaway ‘ban mian’ from Amara food court.

“While they started to eat, one of them found an unusual surprise in her bowl.

“what looks like a fried Japanese style fish is actually a dishwashing sponge!

“When they confronted the stall holder, they were initially evasive when asked what that was.

“Guess what, they were told that was ginger and only admitted their mistake when my colleagues dangled the ‘fish cake’ in front of them.

“I hope my colleague is ok. I’m sharing these pictures with all STOMP readers. Please stir your soup-based food before eating.”

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ROJAK FOOD POISONING: Rojak seller to go to court

April 14, 2009

ROJAK FOOD POISONING

Rojak seller to go to court <!–10 min–>

By Judith Tan
		Mr Sheik Allaudin Mohideen (left) will be taken to court by the authorities. — ST PHOTO: CHOO CHWEE HUA

THE owner of the Indian rojak stall at the centre of Singapore’s worst case of mass food poisoning will be taken to court by the authorities.In a statement on Tuesday night, the Health Ministry and NEA said Mr Sheik Allaudin Mohideen’s licence will be suspended pending court action.

The food poisoning outbreak that occured two weeks ago struck 154 people after they ate Indian rojak from his stall located at the Geylang Serai Temporary Market.

It also resulted in two deaths.

The cause: Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria, a common cause of food poisoning associated with the consumption of raw or partially cooked seafood.

It was found in 13 cases, including the first death.

On the key question – how the outbreak was caused? – there remains no definitive answer.

Both agencies said that since all the food had been dumped they had had to infer what had happened by comparison with a case from 1983.

The similar outbreak, involving 34 cases, was traced to the consumption of Indian Rojak from a market stall also at Geylang Serai.

The food was prepared at an unlicensed premise at Joo Chiat, where drippings from raw cuttlefish were found to have contaminated the rojak gravy in uncovered containers on the lower shelves of a refrigerator.

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