Pig blood products return to some Singapore restaurants after nearly three decades

SINGAPORE – Pig blood products are back on the menus of some restaurants after more than 27 years.

In a Facebook post on May 28, Haidilao Singapore said that its outlets are now serving pig blood products.

The “iconic hotpot favourite” is best enjoyed after being boiled in spicy broth for three minutes, it added.

The hotpot chain obtained its pig blood from CP Foods, according to a photo it posted.

Putien said in a Facebook post on May 26 that it was offering a limited amount of stir-fried pig blood curd with Chinese chives for free from May 30 to June 1.

It added that the dish was not for sale, and that portions were for dine-in customers only.

Responding to The Straits Times’ queries on May 29, importer CP Foods said its shipment of pig blood products arrived in Singapore on May 28 and will be distributed to selected food and beverage outlets and hawkers from May 29.

It added that it is currently in talks with coffee shops and hawker stalls to introduce pork blood curd into retail and hawker dishes, including pig’s organ soup, kway chap, fish soup and more.

CP Foods said it is the first company to introduce the product under current import and regulatory requirements administered by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).

The company had earlier said on May 14 that it would import 6,000 boxes of pig blood products, with each box weighing 400g.

Each 400g tray would be sold for $6.95, it said then.

The pig blood curd products would be sold at selected retailers, including Cold Storage, FairPrice, Giant, Home Butchery, Prime and Sheng Siong, said CP Foods at the time.

In a circular on April 1, SFA said it had approved the import of heat-treated pork blood products from Thailand’s Bangkhla Pig Slaughterhouse after food safety assessments.

The slaughterhouse is the first and only official import application that SFA has received since new requirements were established, the agency said on April 3, in response to queries.

Animal blood food products, including pig blood and duck blood, had been prohibited in Singapore since the 1999 Nipah virus outbreak that killed an abattoir worker here.

Nipah is a zoonotic virus, which means it can spread from animals to humans. It can also spread directly between humans or through contaminated food.

SFA said on May 26, in response to media queries, that importers who want to bring in heat-treated pork blood products must meet its food safety requirements.

They must adhere to animal health screening and certification procedures; hygienic blood collection protocols; appropriate processing, handling and storage methods; and comprehensive quality control and testing systems, and have robust traceability and record-keeping, the agency said.

SFA added that consumers should purchase food products only from licensed retailers and cook them thoroughly.

“They should also adopt good food safety practices by preparing and storing food safely to prevent contamination and storing food outside the temperature danger zone (5 deg C to 60 deg C) when not consuming.”