SINGAPORE: A wad of tissue paper was found in the bottom of a customer’s cup after she drank sugarcane juice at Balestier Market Hawker Centre on Sunday, 26th March.
The customer’s family member took to TikTok to share details of the incident four days ago when their mother was drinking sugarcane juice and noticed something at the bottom of the cup. Video link: https://www.tiktok.com/@amazonia369/video/7215589497889737991
“She initially thought it was a lemon slice and asked my dad if he ordered a lemon sugarcane juice for her,” they wrote.
The customer proceeded to use chopsticks to inspect the foreign object in the cup hidden by ice cubes, only to discover that it was a wad of soaked tissue paper.
The family immediately complained about it to the drink stall and filed a police report, as well as a report to the Singapore Food Agency under the category of Safety of Food sold at Food Retail Establishments as foreign matter found in food.
AsiaOne reported that upon making the complaint, the operation manager offered to replace the drink, but this was not enough for them, and they asked to speak to the stall boss. However, the operations manager pushed to settle the issue the following day.
Asia one also reported that both parties agreed that the stall would bear the costs of the medical examinations.
“However, the letter of negotiation was drafted several times. It practically differed from the terms during the verbal discussions that were made to us,” the customer’s husband told AsiaOne.
After the medical consultation, which the operational manager and human resources manager of the hawker centre also went for, the company said they would pay the customer’s medical bill in exchange for their silence on the issue and asked for it not to be shared on social media.
However, although the customer felt fine on the first day, she suffered symptoms such as diarrhoea, nausea and abdominal cramps the following day. When she went to Raffles Medical to get this checked, she was diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis and was given medication to treat the condition.
Netizens were disgusted by the incident and took to the comments to express their sentiments.
“People drink finish already use tissue wipe mouth throw inside cup, cleaner wash never see or never wash at all,” commented one TikTok user.
“The tissue must have been really dirty that it didn’t come out when dip in soap water then dip in plain water,” commented another user about the standard dishwashing practice in hawker centres.
The customer’s daughter/son said that they posted the TikTok, which has reached nearly 200,000 views, as a reminder for customers to be careful while eating at F&B establishments and for “vendors to be cautious when preparing for customers too.”
The Independent Singapore has reached out to Singapore Food Agency for comment.