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SINGAPORE – The Sats officer who fell sick after consuming food from popular restaurant Spize has died on Wednesday (Nov 14).
Mr Fadli Salleh, who was married with two young children, had been in critical condition in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Sengkang Community Hospital (SKCH) after he was one of 69 people who suffered gastroenteritis after eating bento boxes prepared by Spize’s River Valley outlet for an event last Tuesday (Nov 6).
The party was for a Deepavali celebration organised by security company Brink’s Singapore and held on its premises at Kaki Bukit.
Mr Fadli attended the gathering as he was deployed to Brink’s Singapore, though the event itself did not involve Sats.
A Sats spokesman said: “We are providing support to the family during this sad and difficult time. Please approach Brinks if you have further questions.”
Forty-six were hospitalised, of whom 26 have been discharged, a Ministry of Health (MOH) spokesman had said prior to Mr Fadli’s death.
A joint statement by the National Environment Agency (NEA), MOH and Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority last Friday said the authorities were notified of the cases last Wednesday (Nov 7) and they conducted a joint investigation that day.
Spize’s 409 River Valley Road branch’s licence was suspended at 7pm that evening.
The statement added that they were investigating several cases of gastroenteritis traced to the consumption of food prepared at the restaurant.
“Several hygiene lapses were observed, including leaving ready-to-eat food uncovered in a chiller, not providing soap for hand washing (soap dispenser was faulty) and slotting knives for preparing ready-to-eat food in the gap between the food preparation tables,” said the statement.
Spize had supplied 88 bento sets to Brink’s Singapore and Spize’s co-owner Mr Haresh Sabnani had told The Straits Times on Wednesday before news of Mr Fadli’s death was confirmed that “on that day, 221 bento sets were sent to six different locations, but only that one location was affected.”
He added that he had reached out to Mr Fadli. “However, we received an email from Sengkang General Hospital (SKGH), asking us to respect the family’s privacy. So we will be giving him and his family space.”
Mr Haresh, 40, founded the restaurant with his brother Anil, 43, and they have three other stores in Bedok, Rifle Range Road and Siglap.
For more than than five hours on Wednesday (Nov 14) afternoon, officers from the NEA, AVA and MOH paid their third visit to Spize’s River Valley outlet to interview staff who worked on the day of the incident.
Through the shutters, the kitchen was seen to be cleared of utensils and food. A notice on the door said that the branch is closed until further notice and apologised for any inconvenience, while tables and chairs were stacked up.
All 25 staff of the River Valley outlet are assisting to clean the kitchen and restaurant, Mr Haresh said, adding that none of them will be redeployed to the other Spize outlets, so as to isolate any potential causes of the outbreak.
In 2009, more than 150 people fell ill from food poisoning after eating at an Indian rojak stall in April, causing Geylang Serai Market to be temporarily shut down. Thirty-seven people were hospitalised and two died in what was the worst food poisoning incident here. Stall owner Sheik Allaudin Mohideen was eventually fined $9,000 and lost his licence.
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