Rojak Food Poisoning : 'I don't know what to say'

[Ah Guan]

Next day (1 day before food poisoning), someone witness there was a man ‘tossing’ rat poison all over the market in the NIGHT, claiming doing his duty to ‘kill rats.’ ‘Tossing’ literally means hurling the rat poison over the closed / locked hawker stalls.

My doctor-friends once told me that rat poison can kill human beings because we tend to expel it through vomitting

Rats, however, do not have the ability to throw up and succumb to it

 

[CENWEN]

Rojak seller to go to court

<cite class="auth">Channel NewsAsia - Wednesday, April 15</cite>SINGAPORE: Authorities have decided to prosecute the rojak stall holder at the centre of a food poisoning outbreak in Singapore.

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</noscript>The "Rojak Geylang Serai" stall owner’s licence will be suspended pending the outcome of the court action, said a joint statement by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Environment Agency (NEA). The MOH said it has concluded its investigations into the food poisoning cases linked to the stall at Geylang Serai Temporary Market.

"The cause has been identified as a common source outbreak of Vibrio parahaemolyticus traced to the cross—contamination of rojak and raw seafood ingredients harbouring the bacteria," said MOH. "Laboratory investigation confirmed 13 of the cases to be positive for Vibrio parahaemolyticus, including the first fatal case," it added. There were altogether 154 cases. Forty—eight of the patients had to be hospitalised, two of whom died. The MOH said death associated with the bacteria is rare, and it is awaiting the coroner’s report on the two deaths. No food remnants were available for microbiological testing because the "Rojak Geylang Serai" stall had been cleared out by the operators and the rojak food items and gravy discarded as soon as they received customer complaints.

Nonetheless, MOH and NEA investigators detected some lapses in food and environmental hygiene. While the exact steps leading to the contamination of the rojak food items or gravy are still unclear, MOH and NEA said their investigators could draw some insights from a previous case on how this could have occurred. In 1983, a similar outbreak of food poisoning involving 34 cases was traced to the consumption of Indian Rojak from a market stall, also at Geylang Serai.

In this case, the food was prepared at an unlicensed premises at Joo Chiat, where abundant drippings from raw cuttlefish were found to have contaminated the rojak gravy in uncovered containers on the lower shelves of a refrigerator. As for the food poisoning outbreak at the steamboat restaurant in Geylang, the authorities have been notified of another two cases, bringing the total to 19. 13 food handlers at the steamboat restaurant have also been directed to undergo screening and their results are pending. The authorities advise the public to take note of personal hygiene and the area’s cleanliness, especially when eating out. — CNA /ls

 

[CENWEN]

Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story
April 15, 2009
Rojak food poisoning
Owner faces court action <!--10 min-->
<!-- headline one : start --> <!-- headline one : end --> <!-- Author --> <!-- show image if available --> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr></tr> <tr> </tr> <tr> </tr> <tr><td colspan="2" class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold">By Sujin Thomas & Judith Tan </td></tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td width="330">

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Stall owner Allauddin had said that he prepared his rojak gravy from scratch every morning. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN
</td></tr> </tbody></table> <!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->
THE owner of an Indian rojak stall at the centre of the worst mass food poisoning episode here will be taken to court by the authorities. Mr Sheik Allaudin Mohideen, 70, has also had his licence suspended pending the outcome of the case. In a statement on Tuesday night, the Ministry of Health and the National Environment Agency (NEA) said investigations into the incident, which left two people dead and 152 others ill, revealed some lapses in food and environmental hygiene.

If convicted under the Environment Public Health (Food Hygiene) Regulations, Mr Allaudin could be fined up to $2,000 on every charge. It is not known how many charges he will face. In its statement last night, the ministry and NEA said investigations into the incident at the Geylang Serai Temporary Market had been completed. They pointed the finger at 'cross-contamination' of rojak and raw seafood ingredients for causing diners to fall violently ill.

The food was contaminated by the Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria, which was found in several patients, including one of two women who died. But there was no clear answer to a key question - how did the contamination occur? The two agencies said there was no way to carry out tests as the stall operator threw out all the rojak ingredients and gravy as soon as his customers began complaining of food poisoning. This being the case, the ministry and NEA looked back to a similar case in 1983 for some insights into what might have happened.


Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Cthulhu]

I think NEA has a very shaky case.

a) Only 13 out of 154 cases have Vibrio parahaemolyticus. That's not even 10% of those affected. Vibrio parahaemolyticus may be A reason but is it THE reason? Did this 13 order a side dish from another stall? And why can't food poisoning be caused by a combination of contaminants?

b) Tainted rojak cannot be tested as they have been thrown away. Maybe NEA should review their procedure on handling food poisoning cases. Once they get a report, rush down immediately to collect samples and take pictures of the working environment. Even if the affected food has been dumped, at least they can avoid the problem in the next point.

c) NEA is not sure how the cross contamination happened. Current scenario is based on conjecture.

 

[radon39]

Yup. Most clinicians and biologists can see thru this report and they cannot pull wool over our eyes......They can fool most of the public, but they cannot fool ALL!

 

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

Add on NEA still not sure of the cause of death of the 2...still waiting for autopsy reports

I think NEA has a very shaky case.

a) Only 13 out of 154 cases have Vibrio parahaemolyticus. That's not even 10% of those affected. Vibrio parahaemolyticus may be A reason but is it THE reason? Did this 13 order a side dish from another stall? And why can't food poisoning be caused by a combination of contaminants?

b) Tainted rojak cannot be tested as they have been thrown away. Maybe NEA should review their procedure on handling food poisoning cases. Once they get a report, rush down immediately to collect samples and take pictures of the working environment. Even if the affected food has been dumped, at least they can avoid the problem in the next point.

c) NEA is not sure how the cross contamination happened. Current scenario is based on conjecture.