Singapore food caterer Spize fined for fatal food poisoning case

SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): Food caterer Spize and its related company Spize Events were fined S$32,000 in total on Thursday (Dec 3) over a mass food poisoning incident that made over 60 people sick and killed an auxiliary police officer.

The Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) and Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said in a statement that the companies were convicted of 14 offences related to the November 2018 incident, including for possessing food unfit for human consumption.

The companies had supplied bento boxes to Brink's Singapore for a company event to celebrate Deepavali on Nov 6.

Of the 96 people who ate the delivered food, 63 developed gastroenteritis symptoms and 45 were subsequently hospitalised.

Mohamad Fadli Mohd Saleh, 38, died eight days later of sepsis and multi-organ failure, brought about by acute gastroenteritis.

"However, there was insufficient evidence to link Mohamad Fadli's death to the negligence of any particular individual. As a result, no charges were preferred against any individual," said the AGC and SFA.

Spize Events, a restaurant, and licensed takeaway outlet Spize were also found guilty of offences related to the hiring of unregistered food handlers, preparation of food in unlicensed premises, and for failing to keep clean cooking utensils and kitchen surfaces.

According to court documents, Salmonella was found on the surfaces of a kitchen the two companies share, and in some of its ready to eat food. Faecal matter was also detected in the ready to eat food and kitchen tools.

Most of the hospitalised individuals were discovered to have been infected by Salmonella strains.

"According to Ministry of Health, this common source outbreak of Salmonella was unusually severe due to the short incubation period and high number of hospitalised cases," said court documents.

The operating licences of Spize and Spize Events were cancelled on Dec 6 that year.

SFA added that it conducts regular inspections of food retail outlets and will take strict enforcement actions against those who fail to comply with food safety regulations. - The Straits Times/Asia News Network