‘Sweat flavouring and dirt in the nail are the secret seasonings’ — Home-based fried chicken seller faces hygiene complaints after TikTok livestream

SINGAPORE: A home-based fried chicken seller is facing criticisms online due to hygienic concerns over his way of handling the food with his bare hands. People also reacted to the long delays between his cooking and the delivery time of the food. 

After the seller went live on the social media platform TikTok, a debate took place on Reddit where netizens expressed their thoughts and opinions on how the seller handled his orders.

According to the post, the ‘self-proclaimed’ chef handled a massive amount of food with his bare hands, which is a clear violation of NEA’s food hygiene safety practices for ready-to-eat foods. Furthermore, the Redditor admitted that the usage of any utensils, or the usage of tongs or even gloves, is way better than how he handled the food orders. 

In the livestream, the poster also mentioned that the fried chicken is boxed at 10:30 a.m., and delivery only starts at 4:30 p.m. 

 “At least 6 hours has passed…Is this safe? I guess the sweat flavouring and potentially dirt in the nail are the secret seasonings that we all Singaporeans secretly love,” the Redditor said. 

One netizen commented on the post and declared that this is one of the reasons why he/she does not buy from HBBs (Home-Based Business). This comment gained a response from another netizen who agreed and said that they would only buy if the business wore protective and hygienic equipment while doing a live stream. 

A netizen also declared that HBBs don’t care about the liabilities that they may cause, such as food poisoning, which is another reason why he/she never order from these businesses. 

However, another netizen said that if the seller washed his hands and did not handle anything else besides food, then for him/her it is safe to eat. The comment further stated: “The cross-contamination only comes if he handles other things in between handling food. Even wearing gloves, if he doesn’t remove gloves while he handles raw food between handling cooked food, there will be cross-contamination” 

“That’s why home-based food businesses need to be regulated. What I don’t understand is why the authorities just let them be. What if food poisoning happens because of consumption of food from such businesses? No regulation means no accountability,” one more netizen remarked. 

As stated in Singapore Food Agency’s (SFA) public health guidelines, residents running a home-based food business must follow strict hygiene practices, such as wearing face masks and gloves when preparing or handling raw and cooked food.