Woman ‘got salmonella from sushi at airport’ but the authorities find no bacteria in food samples

Singapore — A woman was diagnosed with salmonella poisoning after she had eaten sushi at a restaurant in the airport.

Her husband, Mr Marc Wong, took to Facebook to complain about the incident. He and his wife, Grace, had eaten at Itacho Sushi in Changi airport on Dec 13. The following day, his wife suffered from stomach ache and had fever.

After a few days of self-medication which did not alleviate her condition, Grace was admitted to the Mount Alvernia Hospital, where she was diagnosed with salmonella poisoning.

The doctor said she could have got salmonella from eating uncooked meat or food. Mr Wong said the “only uncooked food (his wife) had was from Itacho Sushi”.

He wrote that, even when his wife was discharged on Dec 22, she was in the weakest physical condition he had ever seen her in. He said: “So please, my friends, do not spoil your Christmas and New Year holidays by dining in at Itacho Sushi at Jewel Changi Airport or other outlets — at least until reassurance (has) been given that incidents such as my wife’s will not happen again.”

The couple contacted the restaurant and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) to report the incident.

In a report by Coconuts, Itacho Sushi said it had checked its surveillance footage to see that “no act of negligence (was) found” at its end in the food preparation.

After conducting an inspection, the SFA did not detect any traces of salmonella from the food samples at Itacho Sushi. However, it found an unlicensed food handler at the restaurant and will be taking enforcement action accordingly.

On Dec 26, Itacho Sushi posted on Facebook that it was unfortunate that Mr Wong made a public post about the incident even before the SFA inspection results were out.

The restaurant added that it would not be compensating the Wongs.

“Food hygiene is of the utmost importance to us at Itacho Sushi. We will continue to upkeep our high standards in food safety and quality, and we hope this clarifies any misunderstanding,” the restaurant statement added. /TISG