Bakery's retail outlets: Closed until Tuesday Bakery's factory: Closed till futher notice
TWO food handlers from Prima Food have tested positive for the bacteria which infected at least 109 people in the latest food poisoning episode here.
The cases have been traced to chocolate cakes from the company's Prima Deli bakery outlets, and the authorities have broadened an initial recall on such cakes to include all bread, pastries and cakes made by Prima, sold at 39 outlets islandwide.
The company has also been ordered to stop operations at its Keppel Road factory pending investigations, and its franchises will shut for at least a week.
Prima had to 'stop all production as a precautionary measure as investigations are still ongoing to establish the source of contamination', said the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) yesterday.
At Prima's factory yesterday, its 100 workers were sent home as operation 'disinfect and sanitise' swung into action. The process, which involves stripping away all surface materials and wiping all surfaces such as ceilings, floors, walls and production equipment with sanitiser concentrate, is likely to take two days, said a Prima spokesman.
AVA said, however, that the production facility will be allowed to reopen only when its inspectors have given it the thumbs up. AVA oversees food safety for both primary and processed food sold in Singapore.
With the Prima Deli outlets left with empty shelves, its management said it will close them from today until Tuesday.
Investigations into the food poisoning are continuing as the Ministry of Health (MOH) is still conducting tests on various samples from the factory.
The outbreak, first reported to MOH on Nov 23, eventually saw 109 people falling ill after eating Prima Deli's chocolate cakes.
Eight were hospitalised but have since been discharged. They tested positive for salmonella enteritidis, which causes symptoms such as fever, diarrhoea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
Initial tests showed that the salmonella bacteria was a likely culprit.
Preliminary results singled out an employee who was discovered to be a carrier of the salmonella bacteria. Carriers show no symptoms of food poisoning, but can pass it on through stool.
The employee had handled butter cream, an ingredient used as a layer of cream in between sponges of the cakes. The cream is not cooked, unlike the cake itself, where baking kills the bacteria.
About 400 chocolate cakes have been recalled and disposed of since last Friday.
Ms Pansy Wong, deputy general manager of Prima Food, said this was the first such incident in the company's largely clean history.
Its workers have to wear a standard suit consisting of a long-sleeved shirt and trousers, a long plastic tunic, plastic gloves, a face mask and even a cloth headgear.
They also have to disinfect their hands by washing, scrubbing their nails and applying hand sanitisers.
The company is sending all its workers for salmonella testing, including the 50 involved in cake-making.
It has also created a hotline on 6277-7171 for affected customers.
The 39 Prima Deli franchises were told last night that they would be shut for at least a week.
Miss Serene Oon, manager at a Clementi West outlet estimated that she would lose more than $5,000.
'What to do? We have nothing to sell. We have no choice but to close,' she said.
The owner of the Centrepoint outlet, Mr Pal Singh, said he would only lose a 'few hundred dollars', as most of his sales were through cake orders.
He said he would try to stay open so that he can explain the situation to customers.
'It's not something I'm going to lose a night's sleep over,' he said.
