SFA reminds food operators and consumers to be vigilant and ensure good food and personal hygiene practices during the upcoming festive season
Ahead of the upcoming festive season, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) would like to remind food operators and consumers to be vigilant and practise good food, personal and environmental hygiene. This is because a significant number of gastroenteritis incidents tend to occur during the October-March period. During this festive period, more consumers also dine out, order catered food or purchase cooked/ready-to-eat food for celebrations. Causes of gastroenteritis
2 Gastroenteritis is a condition characterised by the inflammation of the stomach and intestines. Common symptoms of gastroenteritis include diarrhoea or vomiting, depending on whether it is caused by bacteria/bacterial toxins or viruses.
a. Bacterial gastroenteritis (BGE) outbreaks are caused by bacteria such as Salmonella introduced into food due to poor food preparation practices.
b. Viral gastroenteritis (VGE) outbreaks are caused by viruses such as Norovirus, which can be transmitted in a number of ways. For example, norovirus can be transmitted from person to person or via contaminated food/water and surfaces in common areas, as a result of improper food handling, environmental cleaning and poor hand hygiene.
3 Based on available data, the Ministry of Health (MOH) estimates that 69 percent of the gastroenteritis incidents in Singapore were due to consuming contaminated food items while the remaining 31 percent were due to VGE with personto-person transmission or contact with contaminated environments. Food hygiene and safety must be the industry’s priority
4 Ahead of this festive period, SFA has issued an advisory to all food operators to ensure food hygiene and safety. SFA has reminded operators of food retail establishments to ensure that all their food handlers have attended the requisite basic hygiene training and are registered with SFA, and that food handlers do not engage in any food preparation if they are unwell.
Food operators must also ensure that they have adequate capacity to handle their orders and maintain a proper system to manage the orders that they take on during this festive period, including for take-out services, to ensure that food hygiene and public health are not compromised.
5 SFA has also been working closely with the relevant agencies and industry to strengthen safeguards for food safety and hygiene. For example, given the incidents of VGE outbreaks in preschools earlier in the year and the greater vulnerability of young children, SFA worked with the Early Childhood Development Agency and MOH to jointly conduct briefing sessions for food handlers and cleaners in preschools to promote good personal, food and environmental hygiene practices.
Close to 1,200 participants attended the sessions, and they reported that the briefing was a useful reminder of food safety and hygiene practices.
SFA is also engaging key representatives from the Association of Catering Professionals Singapore (ACAPS), the Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS) and the Singapore Hotel Association (SHA) about the importance of food hygiene and safety. We have advised them to issue similar reminders to their members.
Food safety and hygiene: A joint responsibility
6 While SFA will work closely with other government agencies to safeguard food hygiene and safety (see Annex A), SFA would like to urge consumers be vigilant and support efforts to ensure food hygiene and safety. Consumers should follow SFA’s guide (https://www.sfa.gov.sg/docs/default-source/our-services/guidelines-for-eatingsafely-during-festive-season_070319.pdf) for eating safely.
7 In particular, consumers should be aware that every catered meal carries an inherent risk, as catered food is prepared in bulk and in advance.
SFA requires caterers to adopt a Food Safety Management System to ensure that good practices are observed in the preparation of catered meals, and to time-stamp the meals to inform consumers of the recommended ‘consume by’ time.
At the same time, consumers should consume the food as soon as possible, within the stipulated ‘consume by’ time. Consumers should also engage only licensed caterers, whose track records (hygiene grading, number of demerit points and suspension history) are available on SFA’s website (https://www.sfa.gov.sg/food-retail/sfa-foodestablishment-licenses).
Ensure environmental and personal hygiene
8 While people can come down with gastroenteritis if they consume contaminated food, the same viruses, bacteria or bacterial toxins can also be transmitted through the environment or infected persons. For instance, vomit of an infected person is likely to be infectious and can lead to the transmission of virus from person to person, or if the contaminated surfaces are not cleaned thoroughly.
9 As such, besides food safety, SFA would like to encourage all parties to ensure good environmental and personal hygiene to prevent gastroenteritis incidents. In particular, places serving more vulnerable groups, such as preschools, should exercise good and appropriate cleaning practices to prevent the spread of gastroenteritis.
10 Members of the public should also observe good personal hygiene by:
Washing hands with soap and water before eating and after going to the toilet;
Covering mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, and throwing the tissue away into a bin immediately; and
Not sharing food/drinks, eating utensils, toothbrushes or towels with others.
Issued by the Singapore Food Agency
11 Nov 2019
To view the original SFA press release, click HERE.
