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"My conclusion is that it is a very entertaining video but the results should be taken with a pinch of salt," said Singaporean food blogger Leslie Tay.

Tay was referring to a recent YouTube video by a woman named Angel Hsu, who spent two months eating at 100 steamed chicken rice stalls in Singapore.

YouTuber ate 100 plates of chicken rice

Hsu, who has a degree in life sciences, a masters in public health and spent over 10 years in a laboratory studying microbiology and infectious diseases, also conducted laboratory tests on chicken rice to find the amount of E. coli bacteria.

She found nearly half of the 100 stalls were found with more than 100 colony forming units per gram (CFU/g) of E. coli.

According to the Singapore Food Agency's (SFA) microbiological standards, the maximum number of  E. coli detected on ready-to-eat-solid food must be less than 100 CFU/g.

Hsu shared these lab's findings as well as the reviews and ratings of a stall's dish on an online spreadsheet.

Tay said YouTuber knew risks were "minimal"

Tay, who presumably watched Hsu's video, penned his thoughts down in a Facebook post on Jun. 7, 2023 and commended Hsu for her efforts.

Noting Hsu's background in microbiology, he said she was aware of the dangers of eating contaminated chicken when she embarked on her experiment and carried on even after the lab found a high bacterial count in some of the chicken rice samples.

"I would have stopped eating the chicken and simply collect the samples to check for bacteria," Tay said. "I think it shows that she knows that the risk is minimal even though in the video she makes it seem as if it is very dangerous."

He stressed that most E. coli strains do not cause illness, saying "That is why even though so many stalls have high E. coli counts, not many people have reported serious illness and we haven't had any outbreaks."

He added: "After two months of eating chicken rice several times a day, she hasn't actually gotten salmonellosis or severe illness. It's actually quite a good result!"

Offered counterpoints for public to consider

Tay also offered the public some alternate points to consider "about the whole experiment".

Findings not new

He claimed that Hsu's findings were not entirely new, referencing SFA's 2021 survey "It is also interesting to note that even SFA reported that nearly 40 per cent of chicken rice stalls exceeded the regulatory limits for E. coli in their own survey."

In that same SFA article, Herman Teo, a National Centre for Food Science's risk assessment and communications department senior scientist, wrote:

"Hainanese Chicken Rice is one of Singapore’s most iconic cuisines ... However, chicken rice also ranks top in a less savoury ranking – it can have higher levels of E. coli bacteria compared to other types of retail cooked foods in Singapore."

Hainanese chicken rice cannot be overcooked

Tay added, "The fact that raw chicken carries E. coli is well known, which is why chicken has to be cooked properly."

However, herein lies the challenge.

Hainanese chicken rice, known for its moist and luscious meat, "cannot be overcooked", said Tay.

Once poached, the chicken meat is almost immediately soaked in cold water to stop the cooking and Tay suspects that is "the problem".

"If the inside of the chicken is not cooked properly, the surviving E. coli will get transferred to the soaking water which will in turn spread to all the other birds soaking in the water."

Eat freshly prepared chicken

Tay's suspicion, if true, is further compounded by the fact that poached chicken is typically left out in ambient temperature over an extended period of time, during which bacteria will begin to fester.

"The E. coli will then start multiplying as the chicken is hung at ambient temperature. The longer the chicken hangs at room temperature, the higher the risk."

As such, he advised the public to eat chicken rice when the chicken has just been cooked, instead of after it has been left "hanging" for some time.

He also suggested that the tight spaces that hawkers operate in were another factor that increase the risk of cross-infection between raw and cooked chicken.

In light of these, Tay said: "I predict that this is going to blow up and we are going to see major changes in how hawkers are required to handle the chickens! Stay tuned!"

YouTuber bought chicken rice at different times

Adding to his point about the correlation of bacteria and time, Tay noted that Hsu bought chicken rice at different times, but did not take this into account.

"So some places may have low bacterial count because it was sampled right after the chicken is cooked while the high counts may be because the chicken was cooked many hours ago," he suggested.

He also noted that Hsu only tested one part of the chicken – the breast – and said, "A more accurate result would be if the whole chicken was sampled since certain sections may be more prone to contamination than others."

Entertaining, but "results should be taken with a pinch of salt"

With that said, Tay acknowledged the efforts that Hsu put into the experiment, such as putting on safety goggles, a mask and a personal protective equipment (PPE) suit before stowing away the chicken rice that will be sent to the lab.

However, Tay was of the view that the PPE was "really not required", saying that while he found it cute, it was "really for entertainment purposes only" as the chicken rice has already been packed.

"My conclusion is that it is a very entertaining video but the results should be taken with a pinch of salt. I am sure SFA will conduct proper checks to ensure food safety, so don't jump to conclusions too early."

You can read Tay's Facebook post below:

SFA: No foodborne illness involving chicken rice reported since 2020

In response to Mothership's queries, SFA said on Jun. 9, 2023 that there has been no reported foodborne illness cases involving chicken rice since 2020.

Chicken rice stalls subjected to more stringent and frequent checks

It added that food with higher risk, such as chicken rice, is subjected to more stringent and frequent checks, and enforcement actions are taken against stalls found to have failed SFA's food safety limits.

SFA also looks into public feedback on food safety.

It said it has received 126 pieces of feedback on chicken rice stalls from 2020 to May 2023, and took enforcement action against one stall for selling unsafe food and 22 others for failing the standards under its market monitoring programme.

SFA added that it will continue to educate chicken rice stallholders on microbiological safety and control measures for retail food, engage and remind them on good food safety practices and monitor these stalls to ensure that food safety requirements are met.

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Top image from ieatishootipost/Facebook and from @AN9ELHSU/YouTube