The Nasi Padang stall in Yishun which caused the death of a 4-year-old boy by serving tainted food was given an ‘A’ rating for food hygiene by Singapore’s food safety watchdog, the National Environmental Agency (NEA).
Following investigations, NEA downgraded the stall’s hygiene grade to a ‘C’.
But soon after, it was reassessed and upgraded to an ‘A’ grade.
The stall has since been shut.
The Story
The stall had an ‘A’ rating for food hygiene, when it served tainted food to Shayne Sujith Balasubramaniam and his family in January this year.
Shayne had eaten tahu goreng, and curry chicken from stall in the Kopitiam food court at Nothpoint Shopping Centre.
He died of severe food poisoning 4 days later.
His sister and mother were also severely affected.
Coroner’s Inquiry
A coroner’s inquiry found that he contracted salmonella from mishandled food originating from the stall.
One of the most dangerous problems was that chicken was partially cooked and refrozen at the store and kept in freezers next to other food which is meant to be consumed raw.
This resulted in the cross-contamination of the raw food.
High concentrations of bacteria well above the safe limits were also found on the stall’s tongs and food blender.
The stall was suspended for three weeks, and its owner ordered to clean the stall thoroughly.
Worker’s were ordered to attend a mandatory food cleanliness course.
Despite the poor hygiene, the coroner’s court ruled that the stall was not responsible for Shayne’s death, calling it case of misadventure.
