Mr Lak Chee Kheong, 42, had taken his three children to a food court in Thomson Plaza for dinner and ordered a plate of rice with some side dishes for his 11-year-old daughter before going off to get her a drink.

When he returned, she was holding up a hard, metal object she had fished from the plate. Unsure of what it was as it was covered in curry gravy, Mr Lak asked the stall operators to wash it. It turned out to be a steel bolt - and a rusty one at that.

'I don't think this is acceptable since they are dealing with the public. It's a matter of life and death,' the businessman said.

The stall assistants threw away the rest of the pork dish the bolt had been found in. Mr Lak declined the stall's offer of a refund and bought his daughter food from another stall instead.

Mr Lak reported the incident to the National Environment Agency (NEA).

Food chain Kopitiam, which owns the food court in Thomson Plaza, said the stall, which has a cleanliness grade of A, has been there for three months, and this is its first incident.

Read the full report in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.