‘Alarming lapses’ in food hygiene at Spize linked to outbreak that caused Sats officer’s death: Coroner

SINGAPORE — The death of 38-year-old Mohamad Fadli Mohd Saleh after he suffered food poisoning from eating food catered by Spize eatery last year was ruled an unfortunate misadventure by the state coroner on Friday (Aug 23).

Delivering her findings, State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam said that there was “no basis to suspect foul play” based on the evidence.

However, she also stated that a joint investigation by the Ministry of Health and the National Environment Agency (NEA) uncovered several alarming lapses in the food handling and food preparation methods (see below), which directly contributed to the outbreak of acute gastroenteritis.

It was an outbreak of the salmonella bacteria from “heavily contaminated” food, which was unusually severe due to the short incubation period and high number of hospitalised cases involving relatively young individuals, they added.

While NEA previously said that it would take the owners of Spize to court over the outbreak, TODAY understands that the prosecution will hear the recommendations of the coroner’s court before deciding if action needs to be taken. 

Fadli’s wife declined to speak to reporters after the inquiry hearing on Friday.

DIED A WEEK AFTER FALLING SICK

On Nov 6 last year, Fadli, an auxiliary officer working with ground handler and in-flight catering services provider Sats, was deployed to work at security firm Brink’s Singapore’s Kaki Bukit premises. Brink’s had ordered the bento boxes from Spize for its Deepavali celebrations.

Fadli, a father of two, began experiencing stomach pains, had several bouts of diarrhoea and vomited throughout the night. He had high fever, body aches and nausea the next day. Two days after the meal, he fell unconscious and was warded in the intensive care unit of Sengkang General Hospital until Nov 14, when he went into cardiac arrest.

He died that night from sepsis and multi-organ failure arising from acute gastroenteritis.

The Spize outlet at River Valley that prepared the bento box has since closed down after the authorities terminated its operating licence. 

The outbreak left 73 people sick, including Fadli. He was the only fatality while the others have since recovered.

The outbreak was the first of a string of gastroenteritis cases that happened late last year. Three more outbreaks at Mandarin Orchard Hotel, FoodTalks Caterer and Manufacturer, and Tung Lok Millennium left more than 600 people ill.

LATE CONSUMPTION OF FOOD

Last week, the court heard that Fadli had eaten the food at least two hours after the recommended period of consumption, and at least four hours after the food was prepared at Spize. 

A senior official from the Ministry of Health said that the delay could have played a part in his death. This was especially given Singapore’s warm weather and the configuration of bento boxes that trap moisture, providing favourable conditions for bacteria to breed.

The bento sets were delivered to Brink’s at about 11.30am and they were immediately placed on a table inside an air-conditioned room.

Fadli ate his food sometime between 2.53pm and 4pm.

LAPSES AT SPIZE

Following three inspections at the River Valley outlet, the authorities found a slew of lapses:

• Faecal bacteria on a chopping board and a knife, and in belacan egg fried rice

• Salmonella in three raw food samples and sambal belacan

• No soap provided for hand-washing, which meant food handlers likely did not wash their hands before or after handling ingredients, preparing meals or making contact with other parts of the kitchen

• Ready-to-eat food left uncovered in a chiller

• Knives for preparing ready-to-eat food slotted in the gaps between food preparation tables

• Seven unregistered food handlers who had not attended the basic food hygiene course

• Poor personal hygiene and food preparation practices of the food handlers

• Food prepared outside the kitchen area

• Cooked rice left at room temperature for at least three hours before being used to make fried rice

When the NEA ordered Spize to discard dried foods such as salted fish, chicken floss, fish crackers and eggs during investigations, it continued to store them at the second storey of its River Valley premises or sent them to different outlets.

The second storey had also been used to prepare raw vegetables, and that was not a provision under its operating licence. The authorities then cancelled its licence on Dec 7 last year.