Food safety seems to be under threat as of late, what with a maggot found in a CRAVE Nasi Lemak meal, a cotton bud buried underneath salad at Din Tai Fung and a cockroach inside a Pepper Lunch Rice Bowl just last month. Well, a woman has them all beat with a recent blood-curdling discovery of not 1 but 5 cockroaches in her food.
Stomp reports that the lady had made a GrabFood order of 4 packets from Hai Zhong Bao restaurant at Woodlands Wave 9 on 27 Aug. The total cost of the meal was S$43.80, which included a service fee of S$5).
She found the first cockroach on top of her Dried Chilli Chicken Cube Rice. That begs the question of how the restaurant had missed it in the first place. Despite the shocking revelation, she had the composure to dig around. That search would lead to her finding a total of 5 cockroaches in her order.
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When she called up the restaurant, they offered to cover any potential medical bills on top of a refund of S$38 via PayNow. A spokesman for Hai Zhong Bao has since responded to Stomp, assuring that additional quality control measures have been put in place.
On 4 Sep, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) informed Stomp that while no pest infestations had been detected at the food establishment, the restaurant had been reminded that future hygiene lapses would be cause for enforcement action. SFA also added that they take a serious view towards food safety and all feedback alleging poor food safety practices will be investigated.
This is just another cautionary tale (albeit a more alarming one) to give your plate a second once-over before you start on your meal. Who knows if it could be 6 cockroaches next time?
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