SINGAPORE: A video capturing a rat running among instant noodle packets in a Vietnamese bahn mi shop in Ang Mo Kio has gone viral, igniting hygiene concerns on social media.
The banh mi store, Banh Mi Saigon, has since responded to the incident by assuring customers that exterminators had inspected the premises and confirmed that the storefront and food preparation areas were unaffected.
The video was posted on TikTok by user @vinnography on Saturday (May 20). He said that he visited the store on Friday night (May 19) around 8:45 pm when he heard rustling sounds coming from plastic packaging on a nearby shelf.
To his horror, he discovered a medium-sized rat freely moving amidst the instant noodle packets. @vinnography said, “At least one package of instant noodles was bitten open.”
He claimed that he informed the shop’s clerk about the presence of the rat. The clerk assured him he would address the issue later. However, even after 15 minutes, no action was taken, prompting him to leave the shop.
The video shows that the incident was reported to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).
Since its posting, the video has garnered over 100,000 views and sparked intense discussions among netizens.
@vinnography 🐀🐀Rata-Banh-Mi #ratatouille
Numerous netizens emphasised the importance of maintaining food hygiene standards, while others pointed out that the prevalence of rats in the Ang Mo Kio area should not be solely attributed to the shop.
Bahn Mi Saigon’s owners have since addressed the issue on Facebook and have apologised. They wrote on Sunday afternoon (May 21): “Dear customers, we would like to sincerely apologise for the rodent incident that occured outside of our shop last Friday.
“Upon discovery of the rodent, the staff immediately informed the management and thus alerted the pest control to come down to do an inspection and can assure you that the shop & food preparation area is not affected.”
The store owners added that they engaged cleaning and sanitising contractors to disinfect the area in addition to doing their own thorough cleaning of all their equipment and premises on the day the rat was spotted
Send in your scoops to news@theindependent.sg