Pow Sing Restaurant, a famous chicken rice place in Serangoon Gardens, got its license suspended yesterday after at least 29 patrons were struck with gastroenteritis. The Ministry of Health, National Environment Agency and Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority were notified of the stomach flu cases on July 4, and inspected the eatery the day after.
“Several hygiene lapses, including failure to maintain temperature records and allowing an unregistered food handler to prepare food, were observed,” they declared in a joint statement.
Pow Sing was ordered to fix the lapses, but then four more cases surfaced on Monday this week, and the authorities began to suspect a “continuing source of infection” in the restaurant. So they suspended its license and told the owners to clean up the premises, throw out all food, and sanitise every inch of the equipment, utensils, work surfaces and toilets.
To investigate, the AVA has retrieved food samples from the eatery for testing, MOH has taken stool samples from customers affected by food poisoning, and Pow Sing’s food handlers have been sent for stool screening. Only employees who have cleared the tests and are free of the disease can go back to work — after they pass the NEA’s Basic Food Hygiene Course.
But don’t mistake this restaurant for Pow Sing Kitchen, another place in Serangoon Gardens that falls under the same management — it hasn’t been affected by the suspension.
