Maximum $7,000 fine for caterer involved in ByteDance food poisoning case
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Yunhaiyao chief executive Lu Zhi Tao appeared in court on behalf of the company.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
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SINGAPORE – Catering company Yunhaiyao, which was convicted over its role in the ByteDance mass food poisoning case that affected 171 people
Handing down the maximum fine for the case, District Judge Janet Wang said a “staggering” number of people were affected by the episode and that it was fortuitous no fatality resulted.
Noting that the firm had already been in operation in Singapore for six years, she added: “(The company) had sat on its laurels of complacency and maintained a lackadaisical attitude towards the importance of food safety.”
Yunhaiyao’s chief executive Lu Zhi Tao, who appeared in court on behalf of the company, said it has permanently closed its Northpoint City outlet, where the contaminated food was prepared.
Among other remedial measures, Mr Lu said all of the firm’s chefs have since attended a hygiene course again, and a cleaning company was hired to thoroughly clean all premises that are still open for business.
Through a Mandarin interpreter, he added: “The company has set up a safety check team to check on the quality of cooked food and ingredients at the various retail outlets.”
Meanwhile, the court heard that the other caterer that had been suspended by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) over the case, Pu Tien Services, was eventually found to be uninvolved in the gastroenteritis incident.
It was given the green light by SFA on Aug 10, 2024, to resume operations.
An SFA spokesman told The Straits Times on July 17, 2025, that the agency will not be taking any further action against Pu Tien Services as investigations did not uncover any evidence linking its catered food with the incident.
The two caterers had supplied food to ByteDance, which saw some of its staff hit by gastroenteritis
The victims suffered abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting after consuming catered lunches prepared by Yunhaiyao.
SFA prosecuting officer Mohd Rizal told the court that of the 171 victims, 60 were taken to hospital and 22 of them were eventually hospitalised for between one and three days.
Yunhaiyao had on July 2 pleaded guilty to one charge under the Sale of Food Act and another under the Environmental Public Health (Food Hygiene) Regulations.
Court documents revealed that the wok-fried diced chicken prepared by Yunhaiyao was found to contain over 200,000 colony-forming units (CFUs) per gram of Staphylococcus aureus, a type of pathogen.
This is more than 2,000 times the acceptable level of less than 100 CFUs per gram.
Mr Rizal said pathogens exceeding this amount would make the food unsuitable for consumption and that eating such food may cause symptoms of gastroenteritis.
During the inspection of Yunhaiyao’s food preparation premises at its Northpoint City outlet, SFA officers also discovered more than 10 live cockroaches beneath a folded grey plastic mat behind a rack.
Yunhaiyao’s staff immediately disposed of the infested material, said the prosecutor.
The food company’s suspension was lifted by SFA on Aug 16 after it took the necessary remedial measures.
Judge Wang said its remedial steps were fundamental processes that ought to have been put in place from the outset.
When Judge Wang asked about its plans to compensate victims, Mr Lu said the company was in contact with ByteDance.
“We (ByteDance and Yunhaiyao) have an agreement that we will discuss this further upon the conclusion of this case,” he said through the interpreter.
After the case concluded on July 17, Yunhaiyao apologised in a statement posted on its Facebook page.
It said the incident marked the Northpoint City outlet’s first attempt at offering corporate catering services, but it failed to properly assess the risks involved.
“Our internal review revealed that the meal volume on that day had exceeded the outlet’s maximum single-meal production capacity, which became a major hidden danger,” said the statement, adding that the firm has since permanently stopped its corporate catering services.
It further noted that temperature and time control during storage and delivery was insufficient, leading to microbial overgrowth which caused the incident.
“This incident has been a painful and sobering lesson for us,” said the company in its statement.
“We sincerely urge the public and all stakeholders to continue holding us to high standards and maintaining close oversight.
“We extend our deepest apologies to all affected consumers and the general public.”
