Food Poisoning @ Rojak Geylang Serai
- Thread starter guitarsan
- Start date
Cupholders
New member
Did the Prima Deli incident caused any deaths?
vickomaniac
New member
^ No, it did not.
extremers
New member
I don't think the owner's responsible for the mass poisoning. especially when he had so much reputation with his stall, i don't believe he would want to shoot himself in the foot and screw up his livelihood.
afterall, in today's new paper he sounded clueless about it. though, i won't be certain.
if it's a case of business sabotage, then this is too much when consumers die out of the poisoning and i hope that guilty parties should be punished severely.
my sincere condolences to Madam Aminah Samijo's family.
surprisingly, why didn't any of the stall helpers get poisoning? don't they eat stuff from the stall too sometimes?
afterall, in today's new paper he sounded clueless about it. though, i won't be certain.
if it's a case of business sabotage, then this is too much when consumers die out of the poisoning and i hope that guilty parties should be punished severely.
my sincere condolences to Madam Aminah Samijo's family.
surprisingly, why didn't any of the stall helpers get poisoning? don't they eat stuff from the stall too sometimes?
Cavett
New member
It did not but if I can recall correctly there were more cases of people falling ill than this current incident.
Plus Prima Deli is a franchise. The contaminated cakes were delivered throughout the island and they were closed for quite sometime...
Cupholders
New member
Errm. Well personally i think that the current case is more serious then the Prima Deli. Anway, what could make the gravy so 'poisoned' which made the deceased suffer from liver failure. Its really sad if someone tried to sabotage the shop. It was to the extent of killing a few people. Madness.
In today's ST forum, a writer relates how stall owners recycle their gravy and stuff. I'm sure some of you guys have witnessed it too. http://www.straitstimes.com/ST+Forum/Story/STIStory_360797.html
"..........I hope food stall operators will stop the practice of selling unsold food over a few days. Allow me to describe what I have seen Indian rojak and prata stall operators doing over many years.
After lunch, prata stall operators can often be seen scraping the dried gravy stuck to the sides of their huge pots back into the gravy.
They add more water, and at times more spices, then reheat it so that they need not cook another pot to last until the end of the day.
As for Indian rojak stallholders, they are fond of reheating or repeatedly frying unsold items left over from previous days. The bean curd and potato sometimes smell sourish - an indication that the food is not fresh.
Often, to camouflage the stale food, these operators are generous with chopped onions and green chillies. They also add water to their gravy like some prata stallholders.
These unhygienic practices are often carried out during off-peak periods........."
I guess this time round it's much more severe, as some deadly pathogens (confirmed by MOH initial test) has found its way into the "recycled" rojak.
"..........I hope food stall operators will stop the practice of selling unsold food over a few days. Allow me to describe what I have seen Indian rojak and prata stall operators doing over many years.
After lunch, prata stall operators can often be seen scraping the dried gravy stuck to the sides of their huge pots back into the gravy.
They add more water, and at times more spices, then reheat it so that they need not cook another pot to last until the end of the day.
As for Indian rojak stallholders, they are fond of reheating or repeatedly frying unsold items left over from previous days. The bean curd and potato sometimes smell sourish - an indication that the food is not fresh.
Often, to camouflage the stale food, these operators are generous with chopped onions and green chillies. They also add water to their gravy like some prata stallholders.
These unhygienic practices are often carried out during off-peak periods........."
I guess this time round it's much more severe, as some deadly pathogens (confirmed by MOH initial test) has found its way into the "recycled" rojak.
I feel really sorry for the families affected.
We should never take for granted the hygiene of a foodstall, regardless of its popularity or fame.
I feel that such a tragedy is not totally inconceivable, given that many foodstall helpers are only employees drawing salaries, and do not feel a sense of responsibility about the food they make or the stall's reputation. Hence, they might do anything they want depending on the mood for the day.
Be careful everyone! And keep to freshly-cooked food.
We should never take for granted the hygiene of a foodstall, regardless of its popularity or fame.
I feel that such a tragedy is not totally inconceivable, given that many foodstall helpers are only employees drawing salaries, and do not feel a sense of responsibility about the food they make or the stall's reputation. Hence, they might do anything they want depending on the mood for the day.
Be careful everyone! And keep to freshly-cooked food.
Last edited:
fgl
Well-known member
good question bro ... Up ur pts
extremers
New member
Quite true Vaiyen, it's either that (the loathing of the same ol food over and over again) or it's just the stall policy of not giving their helpers their own food for lunch.
well it's just interesting that none of the stall helpers even helped himself to some of the food there. If that were to be the case (loathing of the same old food), they are lucky not to feel like "rojak" that period of time.
well it's just interesting that none of the stall helpers even helped himself to some of the food there. If that were to be the case (loathing of the same old food), they are lucky not to feel like "rojak" that period of time.
Last edited:
theunknown
New member
same here, my mom has worked for a food stall for years, and she very seldoms eats from the stall she works at. she only brings the food home for the family.
the lady who had a miscarriaged survived. i saw the interview where she said it was the first child of her 2nd husband or something like that.
the lady who had a miscarriaged survived. i saw the interview where she said it was the first child of her 2nd husband or something like that.
extremers
New member
confirmed second fatality:
Rojak poisoning: One more death
Wed, Apr 08, 2009
AsiaOne
Latest news:
A second person has died in the rojak poisoning case. Madam Norani Kassim, 59, died at 9.58am today after being admitted to Alexandra Hospital's intensive care unit five days ago. An Alexandra spokesman said that the cause of death is still undetermined pending the coroner's investigation.
The affected stall - Rojak Geylang Serai:
It is a famous Indian rojak stall at Geylang Serai market and had previously been featured on Makansutra. The stall, at #01-320, was rated two and a half chopsticks out of three in Makansutra's 2007 food guide.
According to the review, regulars swear by its stewed beef liver.
The stall received a "C" hygiene rating in a check by the National Environment Agency (NEA) last December.
The casualties:
The number of people who have fallen ill is now 137, up from 111 on Monday. Of these, 37 have been hospitalised while the rest were given outpatient treatment.
Among those warded, two woman - Madam Noraini Kasim and Mdm Aminah Samijo - have died. One woman who was two months pregnant miscarried. This is possibly Singapore's worst case of mass food poisoning.
Cause of the food poisoning:
Workers from the rojak stall have been told to go for screening at the Communicable Disease Centre (CDC).
A MOH spokesman said a joint inspection was conducted with officers from the NEA on Saturday morning at the stall.
She said the stallholder and assistant have been directed by MOH to undergo screening for food-borne pathogens at the CDC.
Samples were collected from the stall and investigations are ongoing. The cause of the outbreak is still unknown, but preliminary investigations by the MOH showed two of the victims tested positive for the Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria, which is a common cause of food poisoning associated with consumption of raw or partially cooked seafood.
The NEA spokesman added that the agency was notified about the food poisoning cases by the hospitals and customers of the stall.
Sources: The New Paper, The Straits Times
Rojak poisoning: One more death
Wed, Apr 08, 2009
AsiaOne
Latest news:
A second person has died in the rojak poisoning case. Madam Norani Kassim, 59, died at 9.58am today after being admitted to Alexandra Hospital's intensive care unit five days ago. An Alexandra spokesman said that the cause of death is still undetermined pending the coroner's investigation.
The affected stall - Rojak Geylang Serai:
It is a famous Indian rojak stall at Geylang Serai market and had previously been featured on Makansutra. The stall, at #01-320, was rated two and a half chopsticks out of three in Makansutra's 2007 food guide.
According to the review, regulars swear by its stewed beef liver.
The stall received a "C" hygiene rating in a check by the National Environment Agency (NEA) last December.
The casualties:
The number of people who have fallen ill is now 137, up from 111 on Monday. Of these, 37 have been hospitalised while the rest were given outpatient treatment.
Among those warded, two woman - Madam Noraini Kasim and Mdm Aminah Samijo - have died. One woman who was two months pregnant miscarried. This is possibly Singapore's worst case of mass food poisoning.
Cause of the food poisoning:
Workers from the rojak stall have been told to go for screening at the Communicable Disease Centre (CDC).
A MOH spokesman said a joint inspection was conducted with officers from the NEA on Saturday morning at the stall.
She said the stallholder and assistant have been directed by MOH to undergo screening for food-borne pathogens at the CDC.
Samples were collected from the stall and investigations are ongoing. The cause of the outbreak is still unknown, but preliminary investigations by the MOH showed two of the victims tested positive for the Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria, which is a common cause of food poisoning associated with consumption of raw or partially cooked seafood.
The NEA spokesman added that the agency was notified about the food poisoning cases by the hospitals and customers of the stall.
Sources: The New Paper, The Straits Times
Last edited:
hecklerkoch
New member
Well. maybe it's because rojak is considered a 'luxurious' item that you have once in a while and not as a regular meal fare.
So, that helps explain why the people who work in the stall are not affected.
It's like working in McDonald's asking the manager for a Big Mac, large fries and Coke everytime it's your lunchtime.
Anyway, bacteria can creep into our food anytime and from anywhere, and these pathogens, if they end in large amounts in a person, can easily kill you.
Hell, you can also die from simple diarrhea if you don't get yourself treated, and lots of elderly people actually do die, from the complications of untreated diarrhea. Doesn't help that their bodies are usually not strong enough to fight all these pathogens.
It said two of the cases were traced to bacteria commonly found in raw or partially cooked seafood so maybe it was from the prawn in one of those flour cake thingies with prawns lah.
Ahhh... the endless war between man and microbes.
ps I am actually laughing at the conspiracy theories. I don't think anybody would be stupid enough to sabotage a business in this manner.