Stamford Catering's food hygiene grade lowered to 'C' after 52 people fall ill

SINGAPORE - A food caterer's food hygiene grade was lowered to "C" after 52 people suffered food poisoning in March, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said in a statement on Tuesday (July 9).

Stamford Catering's food hygiene grade was lowered from Tuesday and its premises will be under surveillance until its grade is reviewed in 12 months.

A total of 52 people reported having gastroenteritis symptoms after consuming food provided by Stamford Catering, which is located at 24A Senoko South Road, #01-01, on March 2.

One person was hospitalised and has since been discharged, and all the others have recovered as well, SFA said.

The Ministry of Health and SFA conducted a joint inspection of the caterer's premises on March 5.

"A high bacterial load was detected in food and environmental samples, which could be contributing factors for the outbreak. This indicates poor personal and food hygiene practices," the statement said.

The agency also found hygiene lapses such as poor housekeeping of appliances during its inspection.

Stamford Catering has since rectified the lapses and stepped up on the upkeep and maintenance of their premises and equipment, SFA noted.

It said the public may view the caterer's revised hygiene grade on the SFA website after the review next year.

It also reminded food operators to adhere to good food hygiene and safety processes.

In response to queries, Stamford Catering apologised to affected customers for the incident and said that it hopes to regain a better hygiene grading in the next review.

"The safety and well-being of our customers is of utmost importance to us and we draw lessons from these lapses," the caterer said. "In the weeks immediately after the incident, we engaged professionals for thorough cleaning of the kitchen, the end result of which was audited by external parties to ensure hygiene standards were met."

All food handlers who worked in the kitchen on the date of the incident have also undergone a compulsory Basic Food Hygiene refresher course, Stamford Catering said, noting that it had taken care of affected customers' medical bills resulting from the incident.

Last month, two food caterers, Pro*3 Institutional Catering and Chilli Api Catering had their food hygiene grade cut to "C" after a total of 45 people suffered food poisoning in separate incidents.