Boy finds cockroach in economic rice, mother gets $10 refund

A boy was midway through his meal when he found a cockroach in his plate of economic rice, Shin Min Daily News reported.

However, when his mother told the economic rice stall what had happened, the staff initially ignored her.

It was only after raising her voice that another employee apologised and offered a refund.

Chicken grew a 'stem'

The incident took place on Jul 31 at a coffeeshop at Block 420A Clementi Avenue 1.

The boy's mother told Shin Min that she ordered kung pao chicken, meatballs and bean sprouts at an economic rice stall for $4.40.

Her son was midway through his meal when he remarked that the kung pao chicken seemed to have grown a "stem".

When he flipped the piece of chicken over, he found a cockroach stuck to it.

Mother given $10 refund

His mother then took the plate back to the stall, but the employee at the counter ignored her.

It was only when she raised her voice and said, "There's a problem with the hygiene of your stall", that another employee came forward.

The employee apologised and offered her a refund of $10 before motioning for her to leave and turning back to the stall.

The boy's mother tried to return the money, but the employee insisted she keep it and also bought her two drinks as an apology.

She later told STOMP that she was unhappy with how the stall handled the incident.

Enhanced cleaning work and daily pest control: Stall company

The company that manages the economic rice stall has since apologised, saying that it had stepped up cleaning efforts and implemented daily pest control.

Stall manager Mr He said he had reported the incident to the company, and that authorities had visited the premises to investigate.

"We have stepped up our cleaning efforts. We used to do pest control every two or three days, but now we do it every day," he said.

He added that further improvements will be made to hygiene management, including enhancing protective measures to avoid contamination.

Following investigations, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said no food safety violations were found. The agency also reminded food operators to ensure their food is safe and hygienic, and to always keep their premises free of pests at all times.