Woman swears off Wok Hey after discovering lizard in fried rice, company says findings do not support her claim
A woman said she was shocked after finding a lizard in her fried rice from a Wok Hey outlet at Tampines 1.
Stomper Nana had bought the $7.30 meal on June 28.
“Upon eating, I found a lizard stir-fried together with the fried rice,” she said.
Photos shared by the Stomper show a lizard lying among fried rice that had been poured onto a plate.
“I wonder if the lizard fell in while they were cooking,” she said. “If you zoom in, the lizard is very oily.”
Nana said that although she did not suffer any food poisoning, the incident has put her off the brand.
“I just will not eat their food again,” she added. “I won’t recommend any of my friends or family to patronise such places if the food hygiene is not up to standard.”
The Stomper said she gave feedback to Wok Hey and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) about the incident.
According to messages she shared with Stomp, the company initially offered her a refund for the meal, along with two complimentary meal vouchers with add-ons as an apology.
However, Nana declined the vouchers.
“I told them to refund me cash for the meal instead, as I do not want to eat there again,” she explained.
She also felt the company’s reply appeared to be a “standard template”.
“I told them they should send their staff for training and conduct spot checks to maintain the cleanliness of the store,” she added.
Nevertheless, Nana acknowledged that working in the retail and food-and-beverage industry is not easy and noted that staff may be working shifts of more than 10 hours.
No signs of lizard activity at outlet, says Wok Hey
In response to a Stomp query, Wok Hey said it received the customer’s feedback a day after the purchase and has since conducted a review of the incident.
The company’s review included an examination of CCTV footage, the outlet’s environment and its operational processes.
“Based on our findings to date, the meal was freshly prepared and left our outlet in line with our food safety and operational standards,” a spokesperson said.
Wok Hey added that its pest control vendor identified the animal as a common house lizard and “found no signs of lizard activity” at the Tampines 1 outlet.
The company said it issued the customer a full refund on June 29 as a gesture of goodwill. It had also tried to obtain more information about how and when the food was stored and consumed after collection.
It added that it has yet to receive those details and will continue its review.
“Wok Hey maintains strict food safety and quality controls across all outlets, including regular cleaning routines and ongoing pest management by a licensed vendor,” the spokesperson said.
“While our findings to date do not support the claim that the house lizard originated from our outlet, we would appreciate the time to complete our review before conclusions are drawn.”
SFA looking into matter
SFA told Stomp on July 1 that it is aware of the case and looking into it.
“As part of the enquiry and gathering of evidence, SFA may engage the feedback provider for more details and will not hesitate to take enforcement action if sufficient evidence has been obtained,” an SFA spokesperson said.
The agency added that food safety is a joint responsibility.
While SFA enforces food safety regulations, food operators are responsible for maintaining good food hygiene and preparation practices, and ensuring their premises are clean and well maintained.
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