By Republic Polytechnic’s Michelle Weers
Close to 30 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) volunteers were
reported to have suffered from food poisoning after consuming their
meals in the morning of August 15.
A source told Yahoo! SEA that the volunteers, who were on duty
at the triathlon competition at East Coast Park, had diarrhea.
On the same day, the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Ministry of Health (MOH) were notified and they
are now investigating the case.
When contacted, the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising
Committee (SYOGOC) also said they are currently looking into
the matter and will be releasing a statement on this issue
soon.
The controversy surrounding food for YOG volunteers was also
mentioned on Twitter by Singapore blogger, Mr Brown.
He said, “Online forums report a #YOG competition venue with
> 30 cases of food poisoning. Formal MOH investigation is
allegedly underway.”
This is the second food controversy incident to hit the YOG.
A week ago, another incident on YOG volunteers’ meal packs sparked an online
uproar after a volunteer uploaded a photo of their meal pack on
Facebook. Netizens also raised concerns over the sub-standard food
served to volunteers.
SYOGOC responded by saying: “We are aware of the feedback (on
the meal) and have taken immediate action. We will work with the
caterers to continually improve the meal standards.”
Over 20,000 people are volunteering in various roles for the
YOG, which runs till August 26.
- Yahoo! News Sg