SFA to take enforcement action against Itacho Sushi over unregistered food handler
UPDATE: The story has been updated to include a statement from the Singapore Food Agency.
SINGAPORE — The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said on Thursday (26 December) that it will take enforcement action against Itacho Sushi following a customer’s alleged case of salmonella poisoning after consumption of the food at one of the restaurant’s outlets.
During an inspection of Itacho’s outlet at Jewel Changi Airport on 18 December, food samples were taken for testing and salmonella was not detected in them, the SFA said, in response to queries from Yahoo News Singapore.
However, one food handler was found unregistered, the agency added. A food handler is any person who handles and prepares food and beverages in SFA-licensed food retail establishments.
“The SFA will be taking enforcement action against the operator for this lapse,” said the SFA.
According to the agency’s website, SFA-licensed food retail establishments convicted for hygiene lapses may be fined up to $2,000 and have their licences suspended or revoked.
Itacho, which has eight other branches in Singapore, had said on social media earlier on the same day that the SFA’s lab testing was confirmed to be “satisfactory”.
“Today, the SFA has confirmed in writing what we knew all along that the samples were satisfactory,” Itacho said.
The statements by the SFA and Itacho came after a complaint made by Facebook user Marc Wong.
Wong had taken to Facebook on Tuesday about his dining experience at the branch at Jewel on 13 December. In the post, which has been shared almost 2,000 times, Wong wrote that his wife had shown symptoms of salmonella poisoning a day after the couple’s dinner at the restaurant.
Salmonella poisoning is typically caused by the consumption of raw or undercooked animal products. Symptoms – such as headaches and abdominal cramps – usually start within 12 to 72 hours after infection and can last up to a week.
In rare cases, it can also cause reactive arthritis, a type of joint pain that can last for months that may eventually result in chronic arthritis.
She was later diagnosed with the infection at the Singapore General Hospital, according to the hospital’s report attached to Wong’s Facebook post, who added that he had filed a report to the SFA.
“(The SFA) returned with results which says that the restaurant failed on some criteria, but they were not able to tell us further which aspect of their restaurant...failed their expectations,” wrote Wong. “What they did say is that they will take action against Itacho Sushi at Jewel Changi Airport.”
Wong’s post has since been removed.
In its post, Itacho highlighted Wong’s “unfortunate” decision to publish his account on Facebook before the lab results were complete and that it had “caused unnecessary stress to our hard-working staff and our loyal customers”.
“We, however, refused to bow to his demand for compensation towards his pre-holiday expenditures and told him to wait until the SFA results were out,” the restaurant said.
It added that food hygiene is of the “utmost importance” and that it will continue to upkeep “high standards in food safety and quality”.
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