Coffee Shop Staff Caught Washing Mop in Basin Used for Drinks; Coffee Shop Has Since Responded

When it comes to consuming food and drinks from outside, we want to believe that those preparing our meals have good hygiene.

We want to believe, for instance, that they wash their hands after using the restroom.

We want to believe that they do not view cockroaches and other insects as acceptable ingredients for their food.

But if we’re being honest with ourselves, we have no idea if this is true.

So we convince ourselves that they are all secretly clean freaks, and as long as we don’t see any evidence of questionable hygiene, we think everything is fine and dandy.

But when we’re forced to come face to face with the fact that this isn’t always the case, it’s rather hard to swallow.

Coffee Shop Staff Caught Washing Mop in Basin Used for Drinks; Coffee Shop Has Since Responded

A netizen has taken to Facebook to complain about a coffee shop worker who was seen washing a mop in a common basin.

The woman shared details of the incident in a Facebook post last Saturday (17 Oct).

On the same day, the woman was at Broadway Coffee, a coffee shop in Hougang, when she spotted a worker doing something questionable at the drinks stall.

The worker was washing a dirty mop in the common basin, which is the same basin used to wash utensils, cups, and even food.

When she questioned the worker, the worker said that it was common practice, and asked the woman to delete the photos she took of her.

The woman demanded to speak to the manager of the coffee shop, but was told that he was not free at that time.

Disgusted by what she saw, the woman tagged the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), the National Environmental Agency, and the Ministry of Health in her post.

Netizens’ Reactions

Netizens, of course, are equally appalled.

Others, however, took issue with the netizen’s decision to show the worker’s face in her photos instead of censoring it, as it would inevitably be shared all over social media.

Broadway’s Response

In response, a spokesman for the coffee shop expressed their apologies for the incident, adding that such practices are not in line with their company’s standard operating procedure.

The spokesman said the coffee shop will also take action against the worker in question, which includes retraining her.

The SFA are investigating the incident.

SG Clean Certification

Broadway was actually one of the coffee operators that previously stated their commitment to work with the Public Hygiene Council (PHC) to attain the SG Clean certification.

For those who don’t know, the PHC started working with coffee shop chains earlier in the year to enhance hygiene and cleanliness standards amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

Besides a spring-cleaning regimen, this includes ensuring that frequent touchpoints and food preparation areas are regularly sanitised.

Once they have achieved this, among other things, they will receive the SG Clean certification.

It’s unclear whether Broadway has since received the certification, but if it had, this incident will certainly call it into question.