SINGAPORE - A food franchise that serves Asian stir-fry is being investigated by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) after a woman reported seeing insects crawling over some brushes.
Dirty brushes belonging to take-out food kiosk Wok Hey were spotted by the woman as she walked past the outlet in Compass One at 7.15am on Monday morning.
The video that she submitted anonymously to citizen journalism site Stomp shows at least three insects crawling over a brush. According to Wok Hey, the brush is used to clean the wok after every order.
The woman told Stomp: “It made my hair stand on end. No more Wok Hey for me. My kids really love Wok Hey too, but I guess they will stop eating it after watching this video.”
In response to queries from The Straits Times, Wok Hey said internal investigations found that the cleaning contractors it engaged did not clean the brushes properly.
As part of the operations, additional checks and another round of cleaning of kitchen tools and utensils, including the brushes, are done before each outlet begins to operate, said Wok Hey.
“In this instance, the post-closure cleaning standard for the wok brushes to be done the night prior was not followed, and we apologise for that,” the company said.
“We take all hygiene matters at our outlets seriously. We engage a professional cleaning company to deep clean and sanitise our outlets after operating hours on a daily basis,” it said, adding that pest control services are engaged to service all outlets monthly.
Wok Hey said that when the video was taken at 7.15am, the outlet was still not in operation and the insects may have been attracted to the open premises.
“We are working closely with our cleaning contractor to ensure contractual standards are being fulfilled,” Wok Hey said, adding that it will fine-tune its processes to stop this problem from happening again.
SFA told ST that the matter is being investigated, and it will not hesitate to take enforcement action against errant food handlers.
“Food safety is a joint responsibility. While SFA puts in place and enforces the regulatory measures, food operators must play their part by adhering to good food hygiene and preparation practices,” it said.
In March, popular eatery Spize’s Bedok outlets had their food hygiene grades lowered from “A” to “C” after a food poisoning incident in 2022 that led to 15 people experiencing symptoms of gastroenteritis. SFA identified several hygiene lapses during a joint inspection with the Ministry of Health at the food stall in 2022.
Similarly, food manufacturer HKP Food Technology was also fined $8,500 for hygiene lapses at its food manufacturing establishment at Block 3015 Bedok North Street 5. SFA said that in June 2021, its officers had found “widespread pest infestations”, including cockroaches and rodent droppings, and poor cleanliness on-site, both of which constituted a high risk for food contamination.
