Business owner says employee will be fired if ‘ground-washing’ incident happens again

SINGAPORE: Recently, an employee was seen washing a wooden steamer on the floor, and it prompted customers to question the food stall’s hygienic practices. With this act being called ‘disgusting’, the owner then apologised for what happened and vowed that the employee would be fired if the offence were to be done once again. 

It was reported by Shin Min Daily News that a diner eating at a coffee shop stall located at Sims Way witnessed the employee washing the wooden steamers on the ground. Tools for washing were also placed on the floor. The diners stated that the employee then placed freshly cooked buns on the still-wet steamer. 

The customer admitted that the steamed buns were delicious, but it was unfortunate to see that the employee was being so unhygienic. Due to this news going out in public, the business dropped its sales. However, the company claimed that after talking with their employee, it was revealed that when washing the steamer in the sink, it was impossible to completely drain the water. Because of this, the employee had to shake and tap it on the ground to remove excess water.

The stall owner said that he had already warned the employee and claimed that he would be fired if he repeated the same cleaning practice. The owner also explained that the employee initially came from the countryside, so the hygienic practices that he was accustomed to were different. The owner planned for the employee to attend hygiene courses so he would not repeat the same mistakes again. 

The owner concluded: “We’ve been in this business for a long time and have always strictly adhered to hygiene regulations. After this incident, I’ve asked other branches to pay more attention to hygiene.” 

Other related news 

In related news about hygiene concerns in food businesses, there was a report where a food stall was caught in the act when they were processing raw duck on the floor, and diners claimed that it was unhygienic. 

The stall owner claimed that this was just a part of their preliminary processing, and that the duck would later on be washed further.

Read more about the news story here.