A recently uploaded video became viral on social media as it showed a moving rat inside a raw chicken from Toa Payoh stall. The Chicken rice stall is currently investigated by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).
The footage was uploaded on social media platforms, Reddit and Facebook. It showed that while making the video the rat was moving very quickly inside the chicken which was placed in one of the two red plastic bags of raw poultry.
The bags were in a blue basket, which was placed outside a coffee shop, located at Block 95 Toa Payoh Lorong 4.
After the SFA was informed about the incident, a spokesperson said that the officials are investigating the chicken rice stall and added that the agency will not hesitate to take required action if they find that the food hygiene was compromised by the stall.
As per Lianhe Wanbao, the Chinese language newspaper, the Toa Payoh stall's owner, 34-year-old Ah De ordered the chickens and he is responsible for operating the chicken rice stall at the coffee shop. On Wednesday, April 3 he said that the stall was closed as he was cleaning the area and claimed that he never found any rats while handling the chicken. Ah De also added that he had no idea about when that video was captured.
"I previously requested the raw chicken supplier to use an additional basket so that the basket with the raw chickens are lifted and not left on the ground. Now something has happened, and I'm discussing the matter with them," he told Wanbao.
After the video was posted on social media many concerned people claimed that it is unhygienic to leave the raw chicken in the open. While some of the users said that it is the fault of the suppliers, there are many netizens believed that for such incidents both of them, the suppliers and the owner, are responsible.
However, the SFA wrote on their website that "In the interest of maintaining a high standard of food hygiene at all eating establishments, we would also like to advise members of the public who come across poor hygiene practices in food establishments not to patronise such outlets and provide feedback via the online feedback form (https://csp.sfa.gov.sg/feedback) or to call our SFA Contact Centre at 68052871 with details for our follow-up investigations."
