A food importer today denied that the little white worms seen wriggling out of chicken hotdogs and into Singaporean’s nightmares were alive at all but rather just “damaged” flakes of bird meat.
After video appearing to show water sluicing off little wormies from dogs purportedly bought at a local supermarket, the subsequent internet freak-out later subsided after the company – whose reputation was on the line – weighed in.
Hong Kong importer Dah Chong Hong told local media that the white objects were simply parts of the hotdogs’ surface that had been damaged from improper temperature storage.
Nevertheless, the Singapore Food Agency is still looking into the matter and has appealed to the public for more information.
The minute-long clip titled White worms in Valley Chef hotdogs opens with the hotdogs in question soaking in a bowl of water. They do look like they’ve seen better days; it’s a sight to anyone who regularly buys imported food products through a supply chain of imperfect refrigeration. One dog with a particularly rough surface is picked up and shown to the camera. A finger then points to the long white bits – the purported worms – floating in the water.
The man then drains the water and refills the bowl again before pointing at more white “worms” that appeared to emerge from the ‘dogs.
“Oh my god! F***ing a lot, leh,” the finger-pointing man can be heard in the background.
The camera then turns to a shot of the ripped Valley Chef packaging before ending.
“No more buying hotdog,” was the hot take from one freaked-out Singaporean viewer.
Another said: “Be careful when buying hotdog, inside got maggots.”
Others claiming to have witnessed such wormy hotdogs came up with two theories: that the white particles were actually cheese, or that they’d been stored at improper temperatures, causing materials such as fat to ooze out.
Their importer, Dah Chong Hong Ltd., supported the latter theory.
“Based upon the video provided, the material floating in the water is not ‘worms,’ but damage from the surface of the hot dog that is washing away under the water,” it told Stomp. “This is likely the result of storage at an improper temperature and seems to be an isolated incident.”
The company also said that chicken hotdogs are inspected by the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Services.
Singapore authorities said yesterday they were “aware” of the video, and urged the public to come forward with more information.
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