Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg
A former hotpot shop owner was caught operating a livestream business out of an illegal cold store and had an unrefrigerated truck found with live cockroaches.
On Mar. 1, 50-year-old Tan Poh Gwee pleaded guilty to two charges of contravening the Wholesome Meat and Fish Act for operating an unlicensed cold store and keeping 19,483kg of meat and fish products in it for sale.
Another charge of failing to ensure that a meat transport container was in sanitary and working condition was taken into consideration.
SFA had warned Tan to get a license
According to Shin Min Daily News, Tan traded food as frozen product supplier Ed's Frozen Enterprise.
He is also the former owner of Chong Qing (Origin) Steamboat at Beach Road.
In July 2021, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) received a complaint that the food that Tan was selling on livestream was not fresh.
After running some checks, SFA found that he did not hold the licence to operate a cold store and informed him to obtain one.
Crayfish meat stored 8 years past expiry date
SFA raided Tan's cold store at Enterprise One, an industrial development along Kaki Bukit Road.
Not only had they found out he had yet to apply for a license, but they also found more than 1,000kg of expired food.
SFA discovered mouldy salmon and calamari rings, which had turned grey, and crayfish meat that had expired in June 2013.
Tan had also kept meat products in unsealed bags and left them on the ground.
Truck has live cockroaches
When SFA inspected the trucks Tan used to transport products, a truck was found with a faulty refrigerator compartment, and it had live cockroaches running about.
SFA seized meat and seafood products weighing 19,483.75kg in total.
Thought landlord had the license
In mitigation, Tan said he had assumed that the landlord of the cold storage unit would have already obtained the required licence. Hence he thought he didn't need to apply for one.
After receiving SFA's reminder in July 2021, Tan claimed he immediately consulted an advisor to apply for the license, but it wasn't approved in time for the spot check on August 2021.
Tan said he had fallen into bankruptcy because he couldn't pay rent.
Claims food were left unsold during Circuit Breaker
Tan's lawyer said that during the Covid-19 Circuit Breaker in 2020, Tan couldn't do business at all and had accumulated large quantities of unsold meat and seafood products.
When businesses were allowed to reopen, Tan discovered that the products had expired and was planning to dispose of them, his lawyer said.
The lawyer explained that while Tan was found with a faulty refrigerated truck, he had not used it for one and a half years and pleaded with the judge not to see it as a reason to increase his sentence.
Prosecution says he has ample time to arrange for proper storage
On the other hand, the prosecution pointed out that the circuit breaker restrictions had only lasted two months, and the accused had ample time to arrange for proper storage of the food products once the restrictions had lifted.
The prosecution added that while there was no evidence that people had suffered from food poisoning from consuming Tan's products, they could be harmful, and Tan's sentence will need to serve as a deterrence for others.
Tan is due to be sentenced on Mar. 22.
Top image via Lianhe Zaobao and Unsplash.