Food Poisoning at Geylang Serai Temporary Market
This morning the news reported that they have isolated a bacteria which might be the cause of the food poisoning outbreak at the Indian Rojak Stall in Geylang Serai. The Vibrio Parahaemolyticus bacteria is the same family of bacteria that causes Cholera. But the authorities have yet to conclude that this bacteria is the cause of the outbreak.
So how has this latest food poisoning outbreak affected your eating habits? Have you stopped eating at hawker centres altogether or are you just more careful about choosing what to eat? Has anyone here eaten Indian Rojak over the last few days? I reckon all the Indian Rojak stalls must have been severely affected by this. One person I met whose Uncle-in-law was one of the patients in ICU said that they would sue the Indian Rojak Stall. What kind of punishment should NEA dish out to such stalls? Or is the fact that the negative publicity which will almost certainly mean financial disaster for the stall enough?
Let us know what you think of the whole incident.
Our condolences to the family of Mdm Aminah Samijo and also to the family of the lady who miscarried and lost her 2 month old child. Please remember to pray their families and also for the others who are still in ICU.
Link to my blog post on this stall.
38 comments:
1) Review the stall ratings program. Did it achieve any useful result? I see most, in fact all stalls in a newly renovated food establishment get the same rating (eg: A). I seldom see differing ratings within stalls in the same establishment. Is the rating system per establishment or per stall?
2) Public education to change mindset. Get rid of bad/poor ethics and behaviour (eg: compromise on quality to maximize returns)
this is a very bad case of food poisoning. i want to be gracious to say that they should be given a second chance... but it also depends on the cause of the incident. if it is a deliberate attempt, severe punishment should be given. otherwise, the owners should be given a stern warning and penalty and education to stress the importance of cleanliness and hygiene. i'm sure their business will be affected for a while after this incident.
I really doubt that it is done deliberately. Why would anyone want to jeopadize their family income? Anyway, if the food poisoning is due to Vibrio, then it definitely is not deliberate as I cannot imagine where one would get their hands on this bug.
I wonder sometimes if the increased use of foreign workers in our food establishment poses a risk. They may not have been brought up with the same level of hygiene that we have. So they really need to be trained to the standards that we enjoy. Those of us who have maids at home may know what I mean. When they first come to Singapore, there are a lot of thing we have to teach them with regards to hygiene.
ya this news is indeed shocking. I mean the bacteria is THAT strong that it can kill? Wonder what causes its existence at the stall - the question in everyone's mind.
why did you change your review of the stall after the outbreak? that does not show integrity my friend...
The review and the ratings are the same.
it does cross my mind that whether its a sabotage, cos for such a popular store for so many years, and their business so good, their gravy keep changing, how can it be be dirty. But well only the investigators can find out.
It's definitely a sad news.
Rojak is my favourite dish, i don't think this break will change my habit :)
Its sad when such things happen.
The Food Centre will take a massive hit I think. Especially with New Paper showing rats all over the mkt and food centre.
Next, all Indian Rojak shops will probably suffer by association.
Condolences to the familes who were affected by this unfortunate incident.
Hopefully the investigators can find out the truth asap, and such a thing won't happen to anyone again.
First my heart felt Condolences to the familes .It's such sad incident even to think about.Food posioning has occur even in hotels and recently Prima Deli.Geylang Serai Temporary Market is infested with huge rats.I stopped going there went I saw such huge numbers of huge rats in wet market and in the cooked food area sometime around last year in early wee hours.
I was wondering could it be from the prawns & squids they used in their rojak?
I think that would be the most probably culprit. Probably the prawns and sotong that have been kept overnight and resold.
V. parahaemolyticus, the bug they isolated is known to be transmitted through seafood.
I heard on the radio that the Temp market is closing tomorrow for spring cleaning. They reported that spring cleaning used to be done once every four months in their old place. But in the temp market, no spring cleaning has been done since they moved there!
Still I hope my favourite stalls there are not too adversely affected. I guess if anyone wants to go for Hamid's Briyani, there should be a shorter queue now.
Read that the 2nd lady in coma also passed away. So sorry to hear that food poisoning can be so lethal...
A tragic incident indeed. Let's hope that everyone, including the Indian rojak stalls, recovers quick.
It's a very tragic isolated incident for all involved - the victims, deceased's families, as well as the stall owners. Yes - legally the stall operators have to bear the consequences (criminal charges as well as civil claims) but I think the harshest punishment of all, is the tragic knowledge that someone suffered and died from the food they prepared. While we pray for the victims, let us not forget the stall operators' very sad plight as well. May we be merciful as we seek to do justice.
Hannah
Yes indeed, I was told that the stall owners were crying over what happened. I am sure it is the death of people who have eaten their food that is more devastating than the loss of business.
I think that the guilt of 2 deaths and one miscarriage and 100 over people and maybe more not reported sick because of something you have been faithfully cooking and serving for the past 20 over years is enough a mental anguish on the old man.... So I think those calling for blood... well I say it's really uncalled for. Like the guy in the forum who ask for the guy to be jailed, compensation for the victims etc.... I mean... come on..... Punished he must be yes if standards of hygiene were not followed but jail him? Claim compensation? it sound more like extortion..
if food left out in open are unhygienic.then what about chinese ngor hiang? same same like rojak...even yong tau foo and chicken rice stall...
I think it is the india rojak cuttlefish that is the culprit.
Wife always says eat cooked food but hell!... that means no rojak, no popia, no yu sang!
How's a guy going to survive!
Recently I saw an appalling incident at the wet market near my home which made me think twice about eating out. A meat stall left bags of frozen chicken and mutton unattended at the back while they tended to business in front. A bunch of crows were helping themselves to the meat, pecking and tearing out pieces from the plastic bags.
I would never buy meat from a stall like this but who knows they could be supplying these contaminated meat to the foodstalls in the neighbourhood. The meat will be cooked as briyani or mutton curry. Who knows what we're eating really?
Incidentally, unlike other India Rojak stall, this one doesn't fry (or re-fry) the food items prior to serving, which might have actually killed the bacteria. The last few times that I ordered, basically just choose what I want, they cut on the spot and then serve. Of course one can argue that nobody re-fries the cuttlefish, but you know what I mean.
Unfortunately or not, microbes are so ubiquitous that what sounds logical on paper may not be feasible to be applied in a wet market or low-end FnB place. We all know you aren't suppose to leave meat or other foods at room temperature, regardless of whether they have been cooked or not, since they will breed all sorts of microbes. Yet you look at chicken rice stalls, char siew stalls and most other places. What can they do? Make the chicken on the spot? Keep it in the fridge? Keeping it warm at 50 degrees is probably even worse than keeping it at room temperature.
There are tonnes of parasites and microbes in sashimi and sushi as well. Not to mention the chinese version, which is probably far worse due to poor handling.
Noodles which are cooked according to what people like, may be tasty. But such cooking is totally not enough to kill bacteria present. Many will be surprised to learn that many bacteria and their spores can survive at temperatures of above 100 degrees celsius, especially if the heating time is short.
That said, I don't see an easy solution for this. Some people say wear gloves etc but they don't realise gloves are pointless if the stallowners wear them all the time and do everything with them on.
The fact that this happened is probably because of the food suppliers, rather than the hawkers themselves. This is actually where it's most effective to stop such outbreaks, and credit to AVA for maintaining an almost draconian system of import regulations. Funny that people here seem to complain about how AVA causes them to not have their favourite food, such as Nipah-virus pork or something. It's about compromise.
People seem to think food poisoning is not a serious problem, but here we have plenty of microbes that can kill humans really quick. The best known example is Clostridium Botulinum of course, whose toxin is used in botox. Food poisoning is a serious issue.
There was once my friend commented that at the back of a particular restaurant which I like to frequent, he saw fishes lying on the floor at the yard. He say there was once it was raining and the rain simply were dropping on the fishes.
NOw my answer to him was, the fish came from the sea and the sea water is the dirtiest thing in the world what with all kind of decomposed material and all kind of shit produced by sea animals. Rain water is far cleaner!
Now, if only these problematic food sellers would adopt the attitude:
"Do unto others, what you would have others do unto you."
Its difficult to link vibro poisoning with rojak since vibro mainly exist in seafood. (blood cockles)
The families can raise a civil suite but I doubt that the authorities can do anything.
JC
While we continue to pray for those affected by the food-poisoning episode, let's all also be mindful that we all play a part in keeping hygiene standards in check. Latest study released earlier a week ago reveals that 3 in 10 Singaporeans do not wash their hands after using toilets. I'm enraged, appalled and disgusted - we should all be. With the rise in HFMD cases (which I believe [ieat - can confirm that?] can also affect older children & adults), let's all do our part in keeping our environment safe for our loved ones.
Hannah
In time to come, the authorities will release its investigations report and due action (suspension/fine/revocation of licence/criminal charges) will be taken against the stall operators. No doubt, families of the victims will also consider commencing civil action against the stall operators. Still - I think the reality of having to live with the knowledge that someone died from eating your food is going to be harshest punishment of all. In an interview, the 69-year-old stall operator sounded very geniunely-apologetic and at one point, blurted, "I don't know if I will live or die". Such is the cruelty of this tragic incident. May he find mercy.
Hannah
I just came back from cell group. we were discussing about this during fellowship, i heard that it could be a sabotage by another hawker, and that the bacteria they discovered, came from seafood or something.
can anyone confirm?
I doubt if anyone can be so smart as to sabotage this way. Much easier to slip some rat poison into the rojak rather than Vibrio parahaemolyticus.
I agree with ieat. And let's not be speculative at this stage. All lab results and investigations point to cross-contamination. Let's leave malice out of the equation until the verdict is out. To me, it's already sad enough and I refuse to believe (without substantive evidence) that there was a deliberate malicious act involved.
Hannah
(p.s.: ieat - how do i register "Hannah" as my username? Am already a registered forum-mer)
You can register either a google or openid account. Or else, just choose the Name/URL option and type Hannah.
Thanks for your constructive comments btw.
Identifying the correct pathogen that caused the diarrhea outbreak is very important with regards to how to deal with the situation. Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a bacteria associated with shellfish (esp oysters). Parahaemolyticus infection can be avoided by thoroughly cooking these foods to kill this bacteria. V parahaemolyticus causes mild to moderate diarrhea and is seldom associated with life threatening infections. V. cholera however can be transmitted through the hands of a carrier who may be asymptomatic (fecal-oral transmission). So washing the hands of food handlers is of primary importance in the prevention. V. cholera is also known to cause epidemics, severe diarrrhea and DEATH within hours of infection. Symptomatically, the culprit looks like V. cholera even if the lab reports show V. parahaemolyticus. The final say will be the pathologist's though.
So were there shellfishes in the food eaten? Or was it just the handler not frequently washing hands? Cooking foods adequately (above 80 degrees celsius at least) can adequately kill most Vibrio pathogens. However putting these foods back again in a contaminated medium negates this procedure. It takes only 1 person to transmit Cholera.
DrFilCT
Thanks for your input DrFilCT. Yes it is surprising just how lethal this particular bug is.
just wondering if anyone has been there recently? my mum and i go there for Hamid's briyani, and just want to know if all the other stalls are open for business as usual
btw just want to add that the lady who miscarried lost her baby before eating the rojak, and this has also been clarified by the hospital committee (which my friend's husband is in)
Wow talk about misreporting! We were under the impression that the lady miscarried after eating rojak!
Every link in the whole food chain from the source to the Indian Rojak Stall are all possible contributing factor for the food contamination. The Rojak man is just one link that connect him to his customers. What about the other links???
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