A business producing full moon chicken and pork floss cakes in Johor Bahru, Johor, is being investigated for allegedly causing 86 people to come down with food poisoning.
Many of the patients were even diagnosed with Salmonella infections, and 11 of them had to be taken to hospitals for treatment.
At least 86 individuals suffer from food poisoning in Johor
According to a report by China Press, at least 86 people from across various districts, aged between 4 and 76 years old, experienced symptoms ranging from diarrhoea, vomiting, fever and abdominal pain.
One patient, who is considered a severe case, required a cecal segment resection, which is a surgical procedure to remove a diseased or damaged portion of the cecum, the pouch connecting the small and large intestines.
Another patient received more than 20 bags of IV fluids for dehydration.
Not a common gastrointestinal discomfort
A representative of the victims, pharmacist, Qiu Kai-ming (transliteration), explained that the food poisoning situation isn’t a common gastrointestinal discomfort but a cluster infection that spans cities, families and age groups.
He pointed out that, according to collected data, the first cluster in Kulai involves 18 people from 10 families who developed symptoms after consuming the business’s full moon chicken floss cake.
While many were diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis, laboratory tests also revealed positive results for Salmonella.
This image is for illustration purposes only.
Similar cases appeared in Batu Pahat around the same time.
Then, on 7 October, a parent ordered 50 identical full moon cake boxes and distributed them to relatives and friends. From there, at least 68 people were affected.
He also revealed that the health department has confirmed that they had issued 3 hygiene violation notices to the business in question, and that investigations into the business have been upgraded from the district level to the state level.
3 demands
Qiu Kai-ming claimed that the business in question refused to take responsibility for the matter and failed to provide a list of customers who purchased the same batch of full moon floss cakes.
On behalf of the victims, he has put forth 3 demands. Firstly, the business should immediately issue a safety warning to the public, and secondly, the business should disclose the 3 health violation notices issued by the authorities and their improvement plan.
Lastly, the business can only resume operations after the rectification measures have been reviewed and approved.
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