‘They still served it’: Diner shocked after bird pecks at cucumbers in food stall

SINGAPORE: A diner has raised hygiene concerns after claiming she saw a bird fly into a nasi lemak stall, peck at the cucumbers, and later watched the same cucumbers being served to customers.

According to Shin Min Daily News, the incident took place at a nasi lemak stall in Jalan Besar.

The witness said she and her colleagues were having lunch when they noticed a bird fly into the stall in search of food.

She claimed the bird pecked at the cucumbers, which had been prepared as an ingredient for customers’ orders. At the time, the stall’s employees were outside as there were no customers.

A short while later, the employees noticed the bird and chased it away.

However, the witness alleged that when a customer came to place an order soon after, the staff did not discard the cucumbers the bird had touched. Instead, they continued using them while preparing and serving the food.

She said she found the incident “very unhygienic”, adding that birds may carry germs and bacteria on their feathers and bodies.

When contacted, the stall’s management said it was aware of the bird issue and has been taking steps to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

The stall manager also said they would continue improving their practices to better serve customers.

This isn’t the first time birds have raised hygiene concerns at places where people eat. Recently, visitors to Singapore General Hospital complained after spotting birds lingering around the dish return area at the hospital’s food court.

One member of the public said several birds were hovering around the tray return area, raising concerns as patients, visitors and staff continued using the food court.

The person suggested installing automatic doors and cleaning the dish return area more frequently to keep birds away.

Read more about the news story here.