How long are we going to tolerate unsafe food for our children? asks WP MP Kenneth Tiong
SINGAPORE: In a social media post on Wednesday (Oct 28), Workers’ Party Member of Parliament Kenneth Tiong weighed in on the issue of food safety at school, citing recent reports of students and two staff developing gastroenteritis symptoms after eating food from a caterer.
The Singapore Food Agency, Communicable Diseases Agency, and the Ministry of Education issued a joint statement the day before, saying that a total of 51 kindergarten students and two staff members of MOE Kindergarten @ Springdale in Sengkang and MOE Kindergarten @ Gongshang in Tampines reportedly developed gastroenteritis symptoms between Oct 21 and 23 after having eaten food prepared by Deli Hub Catering, a company now under suspension while the authorities investigate the matter.
“How long are we going to tolerate unsafe food for our children? Mr Tiong asked.
He pointed out that not only had Deli Hub been fined in 2023 after 21 people fell ill after eating food from the caterer, but a caterer belonging to the same group, Gourmetz, was also fined S$13,000 on Oct 9 due to an incident in January when 45 River Valley Primary students got sick due to the lunches it had provided.
Mr Tiong added that Deli Hub Catering and Gourmetz are owned by Neo Group, have the same directors and the same registered address.
“Yet each company is dealt with on its own. After Gourmetz's conviction, MOE kept it on at its schools with a formal warning, noting that it had moved to a larger kitchen under its parent company's direct supervision,” he wrote, going on to ask, “Why are we taking a whack-a-mole approach to companies with the same owner? A suspension or a warning for one company leaves its sister company free to feed children elsewhere.”
The Aljunied MP opined that the Education Ministry needs to look at the group a caterer is owned by, not just consider it individually, given that parents, who do not have a choice as to the caterer in their child’s school, essentially hand this choice over to the ministry and the operators it appoints.
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Mr Tiong believes that Neo Group should not be given catering contracts at schools and kindergartens if it “cannot get its act together.”
He added that it has to earn parents' trust back, and the minimum should be no less than what the Singapore Food Agency itself set, which is more than three years without a major lapse.
“Parents trust MOE to keep their children safe at school, and that includes the food they eat. Three outbreaks linked to the same group's food are doing real damage to that trust,” he wrote. /TIS