Man claims a cockroach crawled out of his Guzman Y Gomez takeaway order from Waterway Point

The customer reported the incident to SFA.

Zi Shan Kow | March 22, 2022, 05:50 PM

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One self-proclaimed cockroach hater apparently met his nemesis in the shell in his Guzman y Gomez (GYG) order on Mar. 16.

Cockroach crawls out of container

Mothership reader Tan said that his sister had picked up the takeaway order at the Mexican food chain's Waterway Point outlet around 9pm.

Famished, the man tucked in the moment the spicy enchiladas arrived. That was until he spotted an unwelcome hitchhiker hanging out next to the pile of guacamole.

"I was eating my second nacho chip when I saw the baby cockroach. I was stunned," Tan told Mothership.

In a panic, he asked his sister to take a photo of it and shut the container immediately afterwards.

He opened the container again to take more photos as evidence, which was when the cockroach scurried out of the container and made its way across the dinner table.

Image by Tan.

Image by Tan.

"I hate cockroaches"

He grabbed the cockroach with a piece of tissue and threw it back into the container. The entire meal went down the rubbish chute immediately.

Tan said that he was utterly disgusted.

"I hate cockroaches. My family always complains about how much Baygon I spray to kill them -- I empty half a can just to kill to one cockroach."

Though it was a possibility, he doubted that the cockroach had gotten into the food during his sister's the bus trip home.

He shared that he would not be ordering from GYG again despite having limited food options due to his vegetarian diet.

Declined a complimentary meal

Tan said that he had decided to share the story with Mothership as he was disappointed that the restaurant had retracted their statement on accountability in a previous complaint about food safety.

GYG was in the spotlight last year after one customer bit into a 35mm-long piece of metal in GYG taco and experienced stomachache, nausea, heartburn and gastric attacks for a week.

The food chain had offered to compensate the customer S$2,000, provided he signed a non-disclosure agreement about the incident.

The customer reported the incident to SFA, which found other lapses in safety and hygiene at GYG's Tanjong Katong outlet.

Internal investigation ongoing

Mothership put Tan in touch with GYG. GYG issued a full refund for the order.

Tan declined GYG's offer to provide a complimentary meal for his family, as he refused the opportunity for the matter to be settled privately.

He added that he has lodged a report with the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).

He also disclosed that he had recently applied to work at GYG, but was rejected after missing two training sessions.

In response to Mothership's queries, GYG said that they "take food safety and the safety of our guests very seriously" and will be carrying out a thorough investigation.

"Our investigation, including an internal review of our CCTV and working very closely with our valued customer, is ongoing. GYG will continue to go above and beyond all SFA mandatory pest control requirements in the meantime,” said GYG.

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Top images by Tan.