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SINGAPORE: Catering company Yunhaiyao was fined the maximum S$7,000 (US$5,400) on Thursday (Jul 17) over a mass food poisoning incident at Bytedance last year.
Mr Lu Zhi Tao, CEO of Yunhaiyao, appeared in court to receive the sentence on behalf of the company, which runs the Yun Nans chain of restaurants.
Singapore Food Agency (SFA) prosecutor Mohd Rizal informed the court that there were a total of 171 victims who suffered gastroenteritis symptoms.
Sixty victims were sent to the hospital, of whom 22 were warded for one to three days. The remaining 38 were not warded but received outpatient treatment or self-medicated.
District Judge Janet Wang said this was a "staggering" number of victims, and that it was fortuitous that there were no deaths.
The ByteDance employees had eaten wok-fried diced chicken catered by Yunhaiyao that contained staphylococcus aureus bacteria exceeding what is allowed.
Staphylococcus aureus, or staph, is a bacteria that can cause food poisoning. It produces toxins in food that is not cooked or stored properly, or through people with the bacteria who have poor hygiene and handle food without first washing their hands.
More than 200,000 colony-forming units per gram of staphylococcus aureus counts were found in a sample obtained by SFA. Food regulations state that fewer than 100 colony-forming units can be found in food.
When SFA later investigated the Yun Nans outlet at Northpoint City, they found more than 10 live cockroaches.
SFA previously suspended operations at the outlet and instructed Yunhaiyao to take various food safety measures, including disposal of affected food, cleaning its premises and retraining its staff.
Yunhaiyao had earlier pleaded guilty to one charge under the Environmental Public Health (Food Hygiene) Regulations for the cockroaches, and another charge under the Sale of Food Act.
This was for selling the chicken dish to ByteDance when it was "not of the quality demanded by ByteDance", since it contained staphylococcus aureus, or staph, counts exceeding allowed limits.
SFA prosecutor Mohd Rizal had asked for a total fine of S$5,500 for Yunhaiyao. This is the company's first offence.
COMPANY APOLOGISES
In a statement after the sentencing, Yunhaiyao said: "We extend our deepest and most sincere apologies to all affected individuals and the general public."
An internal investigation found that the root cause of the incident was "serious management negligence", said the company.
"This was the outlet's first attempt at offering corporate catering services. Unfortunately, we failed to properly assess the risks associated with launching a new business line.
"Our internal review revealed that the meal volume on that day had exceeded the outlet's maximum single-meal production capacity, which became a major hidden danger".
While the raw ingredients met food safety standards, problems emerged in following "basic hygiene protocols". Because of a lack of control over single-batch quantities during the cooking process, some dishes did not meet the "proper standards" due to "overloading".
"Temperature and time control during storage and delivery was insufficient, leading to microbial overgrowth in the dishes, which ultimately caused the incident," said Yunhaiyao.
The company said it had permanently ended its corporate catering business line in Singapore.
ATTITUDE TOWARDS FOOD SAFETY
Speaking through a Mandarin interpreter, Mr Lu had earlier told the court that Yunhaiyao, which has been in business for six years, would issue an apology after the sentencing.
Judge Wang questioned if this was "a tad too late" and why the apology was not issued earlier. Mr Lu said that Yunhaiyao only learnt of the outcome of SFA's investigation "shortly before" it was charged in June.
He added that Yunhaiyao has been in contact with Bytedance and that both companies have agreed to discuss compensation after the court case is concluded.
Asked about remedial steps taken, Mr Lu said that Yunhaiyao had permanently shut the Northpoint outlet involved in the incident.
However, Judge Wang said this did not address the issue, which was the company's attitude towards food hygiene.
Mr Rizal said that after the incident, SFA issued a "movement control direction" for Yunhaiyao to dispose of all ready-to-eat food, prepared ingredients and other implicated food products and perishable food items.
The company was told to clean and sanitise its premises, disinfect all tables and food preparation surfaces and floors, and clean and perform maintenance for wash basins and toilets in the premises.
Yunhaiyao's food handlers were required to complete their level one food safety certification again, and its food hygiene officer was required to pass the level three certification.
The SFA prosecutor said it would have been an offence if Yunhaiyao did not comply with this direction, and a possible consequence was the loss of its licence.
The direction was imposed on Jul 31, 2024 and lifted on Aug 16, 2024.
Mr Lu added that Yunhaiyao had put in place standard operating procedures to prevent similar incidents, and set up an internal team to check the quality of cooked food and ingredients at various outlets.
The company's statement said it had engaged a third-party agent to do risk assessments across its full chain of operations, including ingredient traceability, hygiene protocols, food processing, temperature storage and pest management.
In sentencing, Judge Wang said that protection of public interest took centre stage. She noted that some of the victims required extensive medical treatment and hospitalisation.
Yunhaiyao's conduct after the incident was relevant, she added – no apology or offer of compensation to the victims was forthcoming, and the remedial steps the company took were at SFA's direction.
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