Male youth, 18, arrested for allegedly licking iJooz straw & putting it back

An 18-year-old male student, who allegedly filmed himself taking a straw from an iJooz machine, licking it, and placing it back into the straw dispenser, has been arrested.

A police report was lodged on Apr. 2 and the youth has been arrested for public nuisance, The Straits Times reported.

Investigations are ongoing.

What happened

The youth had apparently initially posted the video of himself on his Instagram story on Mar. 12, but has since made his account private.

His school, ESSEC Business School, told Mothership on Mar. 26 that it is aware of the video.

It added:

"ESSEC is committed to maintaining professionalism and respectful conduct both within and outside the boundaries of our campuses," the school said, adding that it actively guides students on the standards of behaviour expected of them as members of the ESSEC community.

The school said it had launched an internal investigation into the matter in line with its institutional protocols."

iJooz also said on Mar. 25 that it had initiated its own internal investigation, and escalated the matter to the relevant authorities including the police.

The company also announced it would be accelerating the deployment of upgraded machines across Singapore to strengthen hygiene safeguards.

Some of these machines, where the straw dispensing box is locked and which only dispense straws after the juice has been purchased, appear to have already been rolled out across Singapore.

The straws at some machines are also individually wrapped.

iJooz previously added that it intends to roll out these features island-wide to reduce the risk of similar incidents occurring in future.

Top photo from Instagram and Mothership