Food Hygiene

We all know that Singapore is a multiracial society with people from different culture living together in harmony. Hence, people in Singapore enjoy a great variety of food which each culture has to offer and eating is considered one of our national past time. It is therefore not surprising to find makan (eating) places almost anywhere in Singapore. However, how many people here place great emphasis on food hygiene? This is an area which I feel is still lacking in Singapore.

Although the government authority, National Environment Agency (NEA) set hygiene guidelines and conduct hygiene checks on food operators, cases of rats and cockroaches appearing in makan places are still commonly reported. Lately there was a case of cockroaches being spotted at a food court within a well-known iconic Singapore tourism landmark. This was not a one-off isolated case of hygiene standard violations. Some time back, a cross-contamination of raw and cooked food in the refrigerator of a stall in a hawker centre killed one person and resulted in a few others ended up in hospital due to food poisoning. Soon after that, cases of rats appearing in several makan places were reported. There are perhaps many more such cases out there yet to be discovered. I have personally witness several cases which I am going to share here.

As my previous workplace is located in close proximity to a tertiary institution, makan places within its campus naturally became one of our favourite lunch venues due to the cheaper prices of food and the variety of cuisines. One day, I came across a new zi char (stir-fry food) stall in the canteen of a residence hall of the campus. Since the dishes appearing on the menu looked appetizing, I decided to give it a try. The stall was operated by 2 foreign men, one was cooking and the other was taking order. The guy who took my order collected money from me with his bare hands. After doing so, he opened the refrigerator to take raw ingredients, placed them on a plate and pass to the guy who was cooking. Apparently, this guy didn't have time to wash his hands after collecting money but at least he should have used gloves when taking raw ingredients.

The second case happened at the canteen in one of my customer's premises where I saw rats entering the canteen via a drain. Diners inside were totally unaware and happily enjoying their meals. After returning from my lunch, I informed my customer about this incident and they were not surprised as according to them this wasn't the first time they had seen rats appearing. I was told that rats do appear in their offices too.

Despite inspection by the authority, why are such cases still being commonly reported? Are there flaws in the inspection process or guidelines? I am in no position to answer since I have no idea about them and is neither an expert in this area. My personal observation is that our hygiene rating seem to take the cleanliness of the makan place into consideration but not the food handling process.