SINGAPORE — Chinese traditional health products company Hockhua Tonic on Friday (June 4) apologised after a cockroach was found in a sealed bottle of herbal tea that was bought from its outlet at Compass One mall in Sengkang.

Investigations by the company found that workers there had deviated from its “standard procedure” of bottling the drink, which likely led to the cockroach getting inside the bottle.

The issue was raised by TikTok user named "uncoversixtyfive" on Thursday. The TikTok user had shared a video from a Facebook user named Soon Hooi.

In the video, a sealed bottle of barley drink was shown with a cockroach inside it.

Responding to TODAY’s queries, Hockhua Tonic’s general manager James Teo said that the incident happened on May 26, and that the affected customer had returned to the outlet the same day.

“My outlet manager has apologised and refunded (the money) to her.” 

He said that workers at the outlet had washed a batch of bottles the night before so that bottling could be done once the herbal tea was ready the following morning.

This goes against the company’s standard procedure, which is to wash the bottles and bottle the drinks “straight away”.

“We suspect the cockroach might have gotten into this empty bottle,” Mr Teo said.

He added that the company will re-train all its herbal tea operation workers to ensure that they adhere strictly to the standard procedure. This also includes stepping up pest control frequency.

“We sincerely apologise for this incident and will step up… procedures to prevent recurrence,” Mr Teo said.

In response to TODAY’s queries, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said that it is investigating the incident.

The agency conducts regular inspections of food retail establishments to ensure compliance with its regulations and will not hesitate to take enforcement action if necessary, it added.

“While SFA puts in place and enforces the regulatory measures, food operators must play their part by adhering to good food hygiene and preparation practices.” 

Members of the public who come across any potentially errant food operator should report to SFA via an online feedback form on its website. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MICHELLE LEE