ByteDance food poisoning: Catering firm convicted after cockroaches found on premises

Catering company Yunhaiyao, which was involved in the ByteDance mass food poisoning case, has been convicted after cockroaches were found on its premises.

The wok-fried diced chicken prepared by the company was also found to have contained more than 2,000 times the acceptable level of pathogens.

Yunhaiyao's chief executive Lu Zhi Tao appeared in court on July 2 on behalf of the company and pleaded guilty to one charge under the Sale of Food Act and another under the Environmental Public Health (Food Hygiene) Regulations.

Singapore Food Agency (SFA) prosecuting officer Mohd Rizal told the court that on July 30, 2024, the agency was alerted to an incident of gastroenteritis involving 60 victims, who were the staff of ByteDance.

The victims had suffered abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting after consuming catered lunches prepared by Yunhaiyao.

Among the dishes from Yunhaiyao's menu sent for food analysis was the wok-fried diced chicken. The meat was found to contain over 200,000 colony-forming units (CFU) per gram of Staphylococcus aureus, a type of pathogen.

This exceeded the specified levels of less than 100 CFU per gram.

The prosecutor said pathogens exceeding this amount would make the food unsuitable for consumption and that eating such food may cause symptoms of gastroenteritis.

During the inspection of Yunhaiyao's food preparation premises, SFA officers also discovered more than 10 live cockroaches beneath a folded grey plastic mat behind a rack.

Yunhaiyao's staff immediately disposed of the infested material, said the prosecutor.

Before a sentence was meted out, District Judge Janet Wang adjourned the case, seeking more information on how many victims needed medical intervention and how many were hospitalised, among other things.

Lu, on behalf of Yunhaiyao, is expected to return to court on July 17 for mitigation and sentencing.