Customer 'disgusted' by mouldy pastry, bakery says staff member who didn't check had 'incidents of amnesia'
A customer was disgusted to find mouldy pastry from the bakery chain Tai Chong Kok's outlet in Northpoint City.
Stomper Melanie shared photos of the food with mould on it.
"We purchased this pastry from the Tai Chong Kok on Nov 30. When we almost took a bite, we saw this," recounted the Stomper, who reported it to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).
"This is very serious! A breach of public safety. Had we not seen this, we would have consumed it, leading to serious health issues. The party responsible should be dealt with seriously.
"They didn't ensure the food product was safe for consumption. I'm very disgusted and disappointed with this major food chain."
In response to a Stomp query, SFA said it is investigating.
Stomp also contacted Tai Chong Kok, whose spokesman said: "Yes, the customer did purchase a baked red bean pastry that was mouldy."
He added: "After conducting an internal investigation and submitting our findings to SFA, we have found the lapse due to human error."
The spokesman said Tai Chong Kok staff at the Northpoint outlet did not follow the standard operating procedure of checking on all products daily to ensure they are in good condition and fit for sale.
He singled out one particular staff member.
"The staff member in question is the outlet supervisor and has been with the company for many years," said the spokesperson, who is the Tai Chong Kok head of operations.
"Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with a medical condition earlier this year and has been on medication for it. Even though she has experienced multiple incidents of amnesia over the course of this year. The company kept her employed out of goodwill and compassion in spite of her condition, as she has been with us for a long time.
"She had just come back from her holiday and was working alone on the day of the incident. She had forgotten to do a check on all our products, which is part of our standard operating procedure every day.
"This resulted in the mouldy product being sold to the customer."
The spokesperson continued: "The customer came back to the shop to give feedback, and the outlet supervisor apologised and immediately provided a refund to the customer for their entire bill.
"Although it's human error, we apologise and take full responsibility for this incident. We will step up our standard operating procedures, together with additional training of our team."
