187 Food Poisoning Cases Due To Ready-To-Eat Total Defence Day Meals

Those affected comprise about 0.16% of all participants in drill; no one hospitalised

- Gabrielle Chan

A total of 187 cases of gastroenteritis were reported from the consumption of ready-to-eat (RTE) meals which were distributed as part of a Total Defence Day exercise in February.

There were 184 cases from schools, two from active ageing centres and one from a public agency. This is about 0.16 per cent of all participants, said Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, in Parliament on March 4.

"All affected individuals had received the necessary medical attention and have since recovered," she added, noting that no one was hospitalised.

She was responding to questions from several MPs on the recent food poisoning incident at the School of the Arts (Sota), where 20 students had symptoms of gastroenteritis after eating RTE meals.

RTE meals were developed by Sats for public consumption during national emergencies, and 150,000 such meals were to be distributed from Feb 15 to 28 as part of the 2025 Exercise SG Ready.

MPs such as Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang) and Mr Dennis Tan (Hougang) asked about supplier vetting processes, potential penalties and steps to restore public confidence in food safety.

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) collected and tested meal samples, and no food-borne pathogens were found, said Ms Fu.