A 35-year-old woman found plastic pieces in her durian shaved ice dessert on 11 Jun 2025.
The customer, identified only as Ms Lin, had visited Mei Heong Yuen Dessert in Clementi Mall with a friend at around 8pm that evening.
While eating the dessert, Ms Lin felt a hard lump in her mouth. Thinking it was crushed ice, she swallowed it. When she bit into something hard again, she spat it out and discovered it was a small piece of plastic.
Ms Lin realised she had probably swallowed a piece of plastic earlier. She told Shin Min Daily News: “I spat it out and found it was plastic, but I had already swallowed some and didn’t know what harm it could cause.”
Additional Plastic Pieces Found in Durian Purée
Ms Lin informed the shop’s employees about the incident. The staff did not know what to do and could not contact their manager. She asked them to check their durian purée, which reportedly turned up more pieces of plastic.
Ms Lin decided to call the shop’s main branch. She allegedly received a denial, with claims there could not be plastic in the dessert. The person in charge offered her a replacement or a refund.
Staff assured her they would look into the matter, with the blame allegedly pinned on the supplier.
Ms Lin said: “The person in charge said the staff would follow up but emphasised that it couldn’t be the store’s fault and blamed the supplier instead.”
Shop Owner Responds to Plastic Contamination Claims
Mei Heong Yuen’s boss, Ms Zhu, 34, told Shin Min that she was “puzzled” at how plastic pieces came to be inside the dessert. She described the case as an isolated incident and expressed surprise at the presence of foreign matter.
The fragments could not have come from the ice machine as it crushes ice into very fine particles, she said. The box that stored the durian purée had not been damaged.
Following the incident, they checked the durian purée in all their outlets and found no issues. The process of handling the purée at their central kitchen does not involve any plastic.
As the durian purée was provided by their supplier, the company has contacted them to understand the situation. Ms Zhu emphasised that food safety is a priority for them, so they would handle ingredients with caution and investigate the matter.
Ms Zhu said Ms Lin had asked for S$16,000 in compensation — S$8,000 each for her and her friend. While the business is willing to take responsibility and bear any medical expenses, it could not agree to such a large amount, describing it as “outrageous”.
She noted that Ms Lin and her friend did not produce any medical reports. Ms Zhu said: “They did not provide any medical reports, but each diner wanted S$8,000, a total of S$16,000.”
Ms Lin admitted that she had asked for that amount, but claimed that it was the shop that brought up the matter of compensation. She said the store took the initiative to ask them to make a compensation request.
At the moment, she is feeling fine, but she’s worried that she might suffer ill effects in the future as she had consumed plastic. Ms Lin said: “If surgery or gastroscopy is required, it won’t be cheap.”
She also expressed that they were “not sincere”, as the shop had requested to solve the matter privately but rejected the compensation request.
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said that while it puts in place and enforces regulatory measures, “food operators must play their part by adhering to good food hygiene and preparation practices”.
“Food operators should also ensure their premises are clean and well-maintained.”
Those concerned about food safety practices by food operators can report it to SFA via their online feedback form. SFA said that it may engage the feedback provider for more details on the incident as part of its enquiry and will take enforcement action if sufficient evidence has been obtained.
“SFA takes a serious view towards food safety and will investigate all feedback alleging poor food safety practices,” SFA said.
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