SFA confirms catered food caused ByteDance food poisoning, will take enforcement actions against 'responsible parties'

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has confirmed that catered food was the cause of the mass gastroenteritis incident affecting 169 people at the ByteDance Singapore office in July 2024.

In a statement shared on Facebook on Nov. 29, the agency said that it will take action "against the responsible parties" following the conclusion of its investigations.

Background

On Jul. 30, 47 people fell ill after consuming food supplied to ByteDance's office at One Raffles Quay at around 3:15pm.

Those affected suffered abdominal pain and vomiting.

17 people were hospitalised following the incident and were later discharged.

Two caterers involved, Yun Hai Yao and Pu Tien Services, were suspended on Jul. 31.

The suspension for Pu Tien Services was later lifted on Aug. 10 as it had "implemented the required measures as stipulated by SFA" and was thus allowed to resume operations.

Yun Hai Yao's suspension was lifted on Aug. 16.

Caterers involved ordered to dispose food and other items

In its statement, SFA said that the incident was "one of the more serious food poisoning cases in recent years".

The agency added that it will take "appropriate enforcement actions against the responsible parties for food safety lapses".

The caterers were told to carry out various measures, such as setting aside and disposing all prepared food at the onset of the incident.

SFA said the move was ordered to protect public health and prevent potential disease transmission.

Both caterers also disposed of ready-to-eat food, thawed food, and perishable food items.

SFA also conducted further testing when Pu Tien Services requested for some food items in its in-house inventory to be exempted from disposal.

The caterer was allowed to keep the food items as SFA did not uncover any food safety concerns.