Six coffee shops suspended and fined over unclean toilets
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The 27A Coffee Shop in Geylang (top) and 7 Stars in Sumang were two of the three coffeeshops that were fined $1,300 each.
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SINGAPORE - Six coffee shops were fined and suspended for a day on Feb 21 for toilet-related lapses.
Five of the six eateries were repeat offenders, racking up two or more strikes in a year for dirty or poorly maintained toilets, according to notices from the Singapore Food Authority (SFA) published on the same day.
The 27A Coffee Shop in Geylang, 7 Stars in Sumang and Teck Wah in Toa Payoh were fined $1,300 each for three counts of failing to keep their toilets “clean and in good repair”.
Balestier joint Teck Seng and Al Mubin Restaurant at Syed Alwi Road were fined $1,100 each for poor toilet upkeep and the additional offence of failing to maintain sanitary fittings.
The 1002 Food Court in Toa Payoh was fined $1,200. It had notched up six demerit points for not providing toilet paper and soap, on top of eight demerit points for two counts of failing to keep toilets clean and in good repair.
Coffee shops or eating houses with 12 or more demerit points in a year face possible suspensions for one to three days, said SFA.
Coffee-shop toilets are the filthiest in Singapore, according to an islandwide study of public washrooms published in late December 2024.
The Singapore Management University study assessed 2,602 public lavatories based on 17 criteria and interviewed 4,905 people.
Despite more clampdowns by the authorities, coffee shops have consistently ranked poorly for cleanliness among public toilets in hawker centres, shopping malls and MRT stations since the survey was launched in 2016.
In 2024, SFA suspended 10 coffee shops for toilet-related and food safety lapses, a tenfold increase from just one suspension meted out each in 2022 and 2023.
Together with the National Environment Agency, SFA took over 1,200 enforcement actions in 2024 against errant operators for toilet-cleanliness lapses – more than triple the 360 logged the previous year.
A task force co-chaired by Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and the Environment Baey Yam Keng, who is also a Tampines GRC MP, was convened in 2024 to help improve the cleanliness of public toilets here.
