151 Students & Staff Contracted Food Poisoning After Eating from a School Canteen

Do you know what goes into your food when you eat out?

Unlike when food goes bad, our tongues haven’t evolved to detect harmful bacteria and viruses.

So, our lives (and stomachs) are in the hands of food handlers.

And when they don’t do their job properly, it can have serious consequences for diners.

151 Students & Staff Contracted Food Poisoning After Eating from a School Canteen

The International French School has closed its cafeteria for a week after over 150 students and staff who dined there contracted food poisoning.

At the time of writing, 151 people have reported symptoms of gastroenteritis after eating at the school’s canteen.

Fortunately, none of them has been hospitalised.

The school, situated along Ang Mo Kio Ave 3, has students at kindergarten level all the way to high school.

The issue came to light on Tuesday (20 Apr) when several parents reported that their children had symptoms of gastroenteritis after eating at the school’s canteen.

The school closed its canteen immediately and is now working with its canteen supplier to conduct a full investigation and ascertain the possible causes.

Mr Sebastien Barnard, the school’s communications director, said the school is taking the issue very seriously as its students’ health was of utmost importance.

“We are applying extra precautionary measures to ensure the safety of our students,” he added.

Food in the school’s canteen is apparently catered by Chartwells – a company which was involved in another mass food poisoning incident at the residential colleges of NUS in 2019.

15 People Suffered Food Poisoning Symptoms After Consuming Dishes from Kin Hoi

Just a couple of days ago, another mass food poisoning incident was reported.

15 people experienced gastroenteritis symptoms after consuming food from Kin Hoi, a seafood stall at 6 Holland Close, between 28 March and 15 April.

One of the cases was hospitalised but has since been discharged.

The SFA has ordered Kin Hoi, registered as Meetup @ 352 on its food licence, to suspend its food business operations from Tuesday (20 April) till further notice.

In addition to the suspension of operations, all food handlers at Kin Hoi will be required to re-attend and pass the Food Safety Course Level 1 before they can resume work as food handlers.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said they are investigating the incident.

The SFA reminded food operators to practice good food and personal hygiene, and said it will not hesitate to take action against errant operators.

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