ByteDance mass food poisoning: Caterer Yunhaiyao fined S$7,000 for incident involving 171 victims

[Yuletide]

ByteDance mass food poisoning: Caterer Yunhaiyao fined S$7,000 for incident involving 171 victims​

The judge said there was a "staggering" number of victims, and that it was fortuitous there were no deaths.

Mr Lu Zhi Tao (left), CEO of Yunhaiyao, pleaded guilty on behalf of his catering company to charges linked to the mass food poisoning incident at ByteDance. (Photos: CNA/Wallace Woon, CNA reader)

Davina Tham
17 Jul 2025 03:55PM (Updated: 17 Jul 2025 04:03PM)

SINGAPORE: Catering company Yunhaiyao was fined S$7,000 (US$5,400) on Thursday (Jul 17) over a mass food poisoning incident at Bytedance last year.

Mr Lu Zhi Tao, CEO of Yunhaiyao, appeared in court to receive the sentence on behalf of the company, which runs the Yun Nans chain of restaurants.

Singapore Food Agency (SFA) prosecutor Mohd Rizal informed the court that there were a total of 171 victims who suffered gastroenteritis symptoms.

Sixty victims were sent to the hospital, of whom 22 were warded for one to three days. The remaining 38 were not warded but received outpatient treatment or self-medicated.

District Judge Janet Wang said this was "staggering" number of victims, and that it was fortuitous that there were no deaths.

The ByteDance employees had eaten wok-fried diced chicken catered by Yunhaiyao that contained staphylococcus aureus bacteria exceeding what is allowed.

Staphylococcus aureus, or staph, is a bacteria that can cause food poisoning. It produces toxins in food that is not cooked or stored properly, or through people with the bacteria who have poor hygiene and handle food without first washing their hands.

More than 200,000 colony-forming units per gram of staphylococcus aureus counts were found in a sample obtained by SFA. Food regulations state that fewer than 100 colony-forming units can be found in food.

When SFA later investigated the Yun Nans outlet at Northpoint City, they found more than 10 live cockroaches.

Yunhaiyao had earlier pleaded guilty to one charge under the Environmental Public Health (Food Hygiene) Regulations for the cockroaches, and another charge under the Sale of Food Act.

This was for selling the chicken dish to ByteDance when it was "not of the quality demanded by ByteDance", since it contained staphylococcus aureus, or staph, counts exceeding allowed limits.

SFA prosecutor Mohd Rizal had asked for a total fine of S$5,500 for Yunhaiyao. This is the company's first offence.

 

[Yuletide]

The Tiongs must be laughing over the small fine that was dished out at the caterer...