Maximum $7,000 Fine for Catering Firm in ByteDance Food Poisoning Case

Judge chides catering firm Yunhatyao for its lackadaisical attitude towards food safety

- Christine Tan

Catering company Yunhaiyao, which was convicted over its role in the ByteDance mass food poisoning case that affected 171 people, was fined $7,000 on July 17. Handing down the maximum fine for the case, District Judge Janet Wang said a "staggering" number of people were affected by the episode and that it was fortuitous no fatality resulted.

Noting that the firm had already been in operation in Singapore for six years, she added: "(The company) had sat on its laurels of complacency and maintained a lackadaisical attitude towards the importance of food safety."

Yunhaiyao's chief executive Lu Zhi Tao, who appeared in court on behalf of the company, said it has permanently closed its Northpoint City outlet, where the contaminated food was prepared.

Among other remedial measures, Mr Lu said all of the firm's chefs have since attended a hygiene course again, and a cleaning company was hired to thoroughly clean all premises that are still open for business.

Through a Mandarin interpreter, he added: "The company has set up a safety check team to check on the quality of cooked food and ingredients at the various retail outlets."