Dozens of people allegedly fell ill due to food poisoning after dining at different branches of Saigon Delight, a Vietnamese restaurant chain with several locations across the capital. The restaurant said they have reached out to some of the affected customers and that an investigation is ongoing.
The incident was first brought to light on Instagram by user @zenifueru, who has been identified by her first name Jennifer, via stories on Instagram on Saturday. In several posts, Jennifer said her daughter and husband were hospitalized due to severe food poisoning after having had dinner at Saigon Delight restaurant in Lippo Mall Puri in Kembangan, West Jakarta on Dec. 28.
She explained that her daughter and husband started experiencing nausea and unusual bowel movement a day after dining at Saigon Delight.
“We had dinner at 8pm, early next morning they threw up and continuously defecated with a rotten smell and green color, [they were] shivering, nauseous, and dizzy,” Jennifer wrote in one of her stories.
At the hospital, where the two have been treated for more than a week, Jennifer said she has met other patients who were allegedly victims of food poisoning as well at different Saigon Delight locations.
According to reports, customers who dined at Saigon Delight chains in Living World mall in South Tangerang and the Mall of Indonesia in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta also suffered food poisoning.
“Today I learned that there are 15 people at Siloam Hospital for the same case and more than 50 others at Puri Hospital… and Saigon [Delight] so far only responded to us as if they’re underestimating [the incident], and there are no signs of wanting to take responsibility,” Jennifer wrote.
Screenshots of Jennifer’s stories went viral over the weekend, though it does not appear that anyone has been able to determine the cause of the alleged food poisoning.
“The moment we received the reports, we commenced an investigation straightaway. We did a lab check for all the ingredients to find out the possibilities,” Saigon Delight’s spokesperson Santi told Detik yesterday.
On Instagram, Saigon Delight said that it has reached out to the alleged food poisoning victims who dined at the Lippo Mall Puri blanch.
Another Saigon Delight spokesperson, Chris, told Kumparan yesterday that the chain restaurant will hold a press conference later today.
Lippo Mall Puri says it’s looking into the possibility that drinking water at the Saigon Delight restaurant at the mall caused the alleged mass food poisoning, as rumored on social media. The mall says that the alleged victims dined at the restaurant before the New Year’s floods, so it’s unlikely that the disaster contaminated water supply at the mall, and, by extension, Saigon Delight.
On Instagram, Lippo Mall Puri also highlighted that water used by Saigon Delight was sourced from the Regional Drinking Water Company (PDAM) and that no other restaurant at the mall had any issues related to food hygiene.
In addition, Lippo Mall Puri said it’s conducting an internal investigation with PDAM.
In response to the severity of the incident, Jakarta’s Health Agency has also reportedly began an inspection into the matter.
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