FOOD POISONING CASES

6. To ask the Minister for the Environment which areas in Singapore have the highest number of food poisoning cases reported.

Dr Aline K Wong (Tampines GRC): Question No. 6, Sir.

Dr Ahmad Mattar: Mr Speaker, Sir, a total of 120 incidents of food poisoning were reported during the first seven months of this year and 475 persons were affected.

Most of the food poisoning incidents were traced to restaurants (39 incidents), eating houses (26 incidents), hawker centres (20 incidents) and school canteens (10 incidents). Other types of food establishments, such as snack bars, confectionery, food catering premises and residential homes, accounted for the remaining incidents.

Of the 39 restaurants implicated, 18 were located in the city area. In the case of eating houses, eight out of 26 were in HDB estates. As for the implicated hawker centres, the majority, 13 out of 20, were located in HDB estates.

The following Question stood in the name of Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon -