For some, dining at a Japanese restaurant is a treat. You’ll get to feast on sushi and sip on Green Tea. For others, it allegedly ended with salmonella.
Lest you’ve been hiding under a rock, you would’ve heard of a certain Marc Wong who took to Facebook to share his harrowing experience.
In his post, he details how his wife had allegedly contracted salmonella after eating at Itacho Sushi at Jewel Changi Airport.
Salmonella bacteria can induce vomiting, diarrhoea and typhoid fever soon after it enters the body.
The Incident
Here’s a refresher on the incident:
- Marc and his wife went to Itacho Sushi at Jewel Changi Airport for dinner on 13 December.
- She had a fever and stomachache the next day but self-medicated.
- The next day, she was still sick so she went to the GP and got an injection and medicine but the fever persisted and worsened so they went to Mount Alvernia at night.
- The next day she was diagnosed with Salmonella, a bacterial disease that affects the intestinal tract. The doctor confirmed that it was caused by the consumption of uncooked meat or seafood.
- She suffered bad pain and stomach cramps for the next three days.
- They filed a report with the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and warned others not to eat there.
This is the Itacho Sushi outlet in question.
Itacho itself has stated that closed-circuit television footage revealed that there were no sanitary issues and 436 people ate at the restaurant on the evening of the incident.
However, no other complaints were filed. They also highlighted that they’ve been in the business for 10 years and have always had an “A” grade in terms of hygiene standards.
SFA Has Responded
SFA has responded saying that investigations on the food samples taken from Itacho showed no trace of salmonella.
Further, they said that there were no hygiene lapses and thus, no enforcement action was taken. However, they will take action against an unregistered food handler who was working there.
