Wednesday morning started like any other for
32-year-old Sandra Jana, who stopped by the Old
Chang Kee at theSingapore
Post Centre to grab one of their signature sardine puffs
before heading to work.
What she did not expect, however, was to take her first
bite into the warm pastry of her purchase and discover, to her
horror, a dark brown insect embedded among its filling.
"She saw something that looked like a shrimp in the
curry puff," said Sandra's sister Maggie, 25, who recounted the
incident to Yahoo! Singapore. "But she looked closer
inside and realised it was something that looked like a
cockroach."
Maggie, who works with Sandra as a customer support
representative at Delta
Airlines, said her sister's horrific find shocked all of their
colleagues in the office.
"Many of us are Old Chang Kee lovers too, and had
themselves bought food from there that morning, but when they found
out about this, everyone promptly threw away what they had bought
that day," she added, saying that no one has purchased anything
from the snack chain since.
On the advice of her colleagues, Sandra then returned
to the Old
Chang Kee shop in the afternoon to complain about her
shocking find.
"The staff there were pretty rude, though, and one of
them raised her voice against her (Sandra)," said Maggie. "One of
the cooks even emerged from the back and said, 'If you want a new
curry puff, just take it and go,'" she added.
She said that according to Sandra, who revisited the
shop on her own, staff there were not apologetic, even making
observations that the insect appeared to be alive, possibly
insinuating that she may have deliberately placed it inside the
pastry filling on her own.
They did ask her for her contact number, however, and
kept the offending pastry so they could run tests on the
yet-unidentified insect, Maggie said.
She recounted that her sister received a call from a
manager at the food chain on Thursday, where she was informed that
the creature in question "was most likely not a
cockroach because it was eight-legged, not six". The manager also
said this was determined after the insect was sent to a laboratory
for identification, but it may take several days before it
determines what exactly it is.
"They were totally missing the point," exclaimed
Maggie, who on Thursday also decided to post the picture above on
her Facebook
page, to share her experience with fellow Old Chang Kee lovers.
The public picture went viral, with almost 100 comments and 150
people sharing it by Saturday morning.
Another user, Cassandra Teo, linked to Maggie's photo
on the Old
Chang Kee Singapore Facebook page -- and the
administrators there responded on Friday afternoon to say they will
be "investigating the matter more fully".
As Sandra was too disturbed and frustrated by the
entire situation to want to speak to the authorities, Maggie said
she took over dealings with the Old Chang Kee management, filing a
complaint with theNational
Environment Agency (NEA) as well.
While the snack chain has yet to respond to
queries, Yahoo! Singapore understands that the
NEA is aware of and has acknowledged the complaint, and is looking
into the matter.
Currently, the NEA has a demerit
point system in place, which it uses to penalise food
sellers that do not comply with its hygiene regulations. Should a
food seller be penalised with 12 demerit points under its system
over a period of 12 months or less, it will be suspended from its
operations.
The agency also requires all food handlers to attend a basic food
hygiene course when they enter the trade, and to attend refresher
training every three years to keep themselves updated on best
practices.
In the meantime, things have not been the same for
Sandra, says Maggie.
"She can no longer eat meals without picking through
every spoonful to check it carefully before putting it into her
mouth," she said.
