FairPrice suspends sale of xiao long bao after woman finds plastic in the dumplings

SINGAPORE: A woman who earlier this month found “white stuff” on not one but two packets of the xiao long bao she had steamed reached out to FairPrice over the matter.

The supermarket chain has since reimbursed the woman for her purchases and has temporarily pulled the product from its shelves, halting sales of the dumplings for now.

Ms Alethea Seet ordered a packet of Golden Chef Xiao Long Bao from the Fairprice App, which was delivered to her on Mar 18, a Yahoo! News report says.

Golden Chef is a brand belonging to the supermarket, and she had bought the 500 gram packet for a promotional price of S$6.60.

After steaming the dumplings, she saw the white particles on it, and later realized upon inspecting the xiao long bao closely that they were pieces of plastic that had come from the package the dumplings came in.

The particles had broken off from the plastic tray the xiao long bao had been packed in.

Ms Seet, a property agent, told Yahoo Southeast Asia that the particles of plastic had not been obvious when the dumplings were frozen. However, since they change colour and become transparent when steamed, they became more easily seen.

When she steamed some more of the dumplings the following day, several of the xiao long bao also had plastic particles on them. She then examined the tray the dumplings had been packed in, and saw that it was damaged.

When she reached out to the grocery chain, FairPrice sent a staffer to come and collect the remainder of the xiao long bao.

Unbeknownst to Ms Seet, her husband had also ordered Golden Chef Xiao Long Bao from FairPrice. She had told him that the dumplings had tasted good.

The second packet of dumplings arrived on March 21, and when she looked into the package, she saw that the plastic tray in which the xiao long bao were packed was similarly damaged.

Once again, Ms Seet reported the matter to FairPrice and was told that she could dispose of the dumplings. The supermarket also told her that she could begin processing her refund for the xiao long bao packages via the store’s app.

“We have reached out to the affected customer to provide a refund and address any concerns they may have. We take any food-related concerns very seriously,” Yahoo! News reports a spokesperson from FairPrice Group as saying. /TISG

Read also: FairPrice to give out free drinks and snacks at 61 stores for Ramadan