SINGAPORE, July 2 — The chief executive of Yunhaiyao, the caterer linked to a mass food poisoning incident involving ByteDance employees, pleaded guilty today to food safety violations.
Lu Zhi Tao admitted to two charges: one under the Environmental Public Health (Food Hygiene) Regulations for a cockroach infestation, and another under the Sale of Food Act for selling contaminated food, according to a report in Channel News Asia.
The case arose after ByteDance, owner of TikTok, catered lunch on July 30 last year for staff at its One Raffles Quay office, which included wok fried diced chicken from Yunhaiyao.
Sixty employees suffered from abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea, and were taken to hospitals after consuming the meal.
Investigations by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) found that the chicken dish contained over 200,000 colony forming units per gram of staphylococcus aureus bacteria — well above the permitted limit of 100.
SFA later confirmed that the contaminated chicken was the likely cause of the food poisoning, which can lead to gastroenteritis symptoms.
A day after the incident, SFA inspected Yunhaiyao’s food preparation facility at Northpoint City and found more than 10 live cockroaches beneath a folded plastic mat behind a rack.
Prosecutor Mohd Rizal requested a total fine of S$5,500 (RM18,240), noting that this was Yunhaiyao’s first offence.
However, District Judge Janet Wang postponed sentencing, saying additional details were needed, including the extent of harm to victims and how many were hospitalised or placed on medical leave.
Sentencing and mitigation have been adjourned to July 17.
