Total Defence Day ready-to-eat meals linked to 187 cases of food poisoning; investigations ongoing

SINGAPORE – A total of 187 cases of gastroenteritis were reported from the consumption of ready-to-eat (RTE) meals which were distributed as part of a Total Defence Day exercise in February.

There were 184 cases from schools, two from active ageing centres and one from a public agency. This is about 0.16 per cent of all participants, said Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, in Parliament on March 4.

“All affected individuals had received the necessary medical attention and have since recovered,” she added, noting that no one was hospitalised.

She was responding to questions from several MPs on the

recent food poisoning incident at the School of the Arts (Sota),

where 20 students had symptoms of gastroenteritis after eating RTE meals.

RTE meals were developed by Sats for public consumption during national emergencies, and 150,000 such meals were to be distributed from Feb 15 to 28 as part of the 2025 Exercise SG Ready.

MPs such as Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang) and Mr Dennis Tan (Hougang) asked about supplier vetting processes, potential penalties and steps to restore public confidence in food safety.

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) collected and tested meal samples, and no food-borne pathogens were found, said Ms Fu.

“SFA and the Ministry of Health are conducting a comprehensive investigation of this unfortunate incident, and SFA will take the necessary enforcement actions if any lapses are detected,” she added.

“We agree that we need to restore public confidence in the RTE meals.”

With investigations ongoing, it is still “too early to state the steps to take”.

SFA will conduct a review to learn from the lessons of this episode, she said. The food agency will continue to work with schools as well as food business and community partners on the food resilience programme.

Distribution of the RTE meals was suspended on Feb 20 after the food poisoning incident. The authorities reached out to other participating institutions to check if there were cases of related illness, added Ms Fu.

At that time, over 100,000 meals had been delivered to more than 200 locations, Sats said. Of these, 1,475 meals were delivered to Sota.

“Sats, like all SFA-licensed establishments, is required to comply with food safety requirements and subjected to food safety inspections,” she said.

These include ensuring that no cross-contamination occurs between raw and cooked food, ensuring cleanliness and no pest infestation, and having food workers trained and certified in food safety.

Ms Fu added that on Jan 23, before the distribution of RTE meals, SFA had inspected and found Sats’ premises to be clean. No food safety violations were detected.

Sats also tested each meal individually for leaks, she said, noting that an SFA-accredited laboratory conducted sample microbiological testing to ensure food safety.

In a follow-up question on March 4, Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong GRC) asked whether the testing of the meals was done at various storage temperatures to “reflect the variation that can happen when such meals are stored in the community for longer periods of time”.

Ms Fu said: “We believe that Sats had tested the RTE meals in real time, real-case situations, simulating transportation and storage conditions.”

She added that the authorities will look into the test conditions to make the programme more robust.

Mr Yip also asked whether food inspections included the entire supply chain, from ingredient sourcing to distribution. Ms Fu replied that while regular inspections are conducted across all stages, a risk-based approach is taken.

“If you look at the entire value chain, not all of them are the same risk,” she said. For more effective food safety control, resources are directed to parts of the food chain based on risks, she added.

In response to Mr Tan’s question on the duration of the investigation, Ms Fu said the authorities are working as quickly as they can.

“The RTE meals are actually isolated and controlled... There’s no urgency from a food safety point of view,” she added. “The packages are all collected, so we are not continuing this programme for the time being.”

But more important are the lessons to be learnt from this incident, said Ms Fu, which include the ways to be resilient to disruptions.

“What if we lack the facility to cook food? How can we continue to provide nutritious food to the population in large numbers, and in a way that is palatable to the population?” she added. “This is not... a small undertaking.”

“We will have to learn from these lessons; we are expected to learn from it and be better,” she said. “So we will do it in due course and in full readiness before our next roll-out of the programme.”