Steamboat restaurant continues operations
while under investigation
by Joanne Chan
It's business as usual for the Sichuan steamboat restaurant, Ba
Shu Ren Jia, believed to be the source of 12 food poisoning
incidents.
The restaurant's currently under investigations by the Health
Ministry and the National Environment Agency, but has been allowed
to continue operations after a preliminary check revealed no
hygiene discrepancies.
When 938LIVE paid a visit to Ba Shu Ren Jia, an NEA grading
certificate was placed prominently on the front doors, showing that
the restaurant had attained a "B" grade.
It was accompanied by the words "Good in Cleanliness and Food
Hygiene".
Speaking to 938LIVE over the phone, the restaurant's owner,
30-year-old He Min, said that 5 NEA officers paid a visit yesterday
afternoon and conducted checks.
The officers examined the whole restaurant, and took samples of
the raw food for testing.
At the end of the visit, the steamboat restaurant was given the
go-ahead to continue operations, and the officers issued a new
grading certificate.
Mr He said his restaurant saw more than 300 customers on Friday
night, and to date, the number of people who fell ill has been
limited to the 12 cases.
He said it was not possible to immediately classify these cases
as food poisoning, as NEA has yet to make a conclusive report.
In addition, Mr He said some patrons may not be accustomed to
eating Sichuan steamboat, which is famous for its extra spicy
soup.
"We cannot be certain at this point that it's food poisoning.
Eating steamboat involves cooking raw food and sometimes, customers
do not cook the food all the way through. If you have a weak
stomach, you might get diarrhoea. It's also possible that because
we serve a spicy mala soup stock, some stomachs cannot take the
spiciness and end up in diarrhoea."
Caller to the MediaCorp hotline, Ms Wang, said that she had gone
to the steamboat restaurant on Friday with 7 other people,
including her husband.
That same evening, all 8 people experienced diarrhoea.
Ms Wang's husband was subsequently sent to NUH, as he showed the
worst symptoms, including dehydration, low blood pressure and cold
chills.
Ms Wang said the paramedics told her others in the hospital had
come down with similar signs of food poisoning.
The paramedics told me that there were others in the hospital
who exhibited the same symptoms, and all of them had eaten at the
same restaurant. All showed signs of low blood pressure,
dehydration, dizziness and stomachaches.
Ms Wang noted that the restaurant looked relatively clean, but
suspects that the seafood may have triggered the food
poisoning.
--938Live
