More than 30
people attending a birthday party last Saturday fell ill after
eating the catered food, said the host of the event.
The caterer
has now been suspended while the National Environment Agency (NEA)
investigates the incident.
According to
Lianhe Wanbao, two among the 33 taken ill had to be hospitalised
after they had sampled the buffet ordered from Kuisine Catering
last Saturday.
The party
host, a nail salon owner who wanted to be known only as Madam Tan,
said she had held the event at her home in Pasir Ris for her
child's seventh birthday. A total of 34 people attended it,
including her family of four.
But things
went awry after the celebrations.
"My husband
started vomiting and having diarrhoea after 3am, and (the rest of
the family) also started having the same symptoms the next
afternoon," she said.
"We felt that
something was not right, so we called the party guests and found
out that everyone had the same symptoms of food poisoning, from an
85-year-old elderly guest to a kid of three years."
Madam Tan,
48, said her friends and relatives later went to hospitals and
clinics for treatment, and doctors confirmed they had food
poisoning. She said her husband and daughter's boyfriend ran high
fevers and were admitted to hospital to be put on a drip.
Food for 30
was ordered from Kuisine, and a birthday cake was also served. The
one person at the party who did not fall ill had eaten only the
cake and nothing else, said Madam Tan.
A spokesman
for Kuisine Catering said the company had fully refunded Madam
Tan's order.
He said the
caterer had earned an A grade from the NEA for its overall hygiene
"for many years", and that food served during the event was
"general buffet food".
"We also do
not want this to happen and we are also not sure what exactly
happened. We are hoping that the relevant authorities can expedite
their findings and inform us of the conclusion, so that we can
really let our customer know," he said in a press statement.
NEA
guidelines require food handlers for buffet and catered meals to
have completed training and be registered with the agency.
Chilled and
frozen food should be stored at appropriate temperatures, and
caterers should cook and prepare food as close to the delivery time
as possible. Catered food must be time-stamped, with the displayed
"consume by" time to be no later than four hours after the food is
cooked or made to a ready-to-eat state.
The NEA,
Ministry of Health and Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority are
investigating the case.