Food safety: Operators who flout rules face bans of up to three years under proposed law

SINGAPORE: Stiffer penalties will be imposed on those who flout food safety rules under a new Bill tabled in parliament on Tuesday (Nov 12).

Introduced by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE), the Food Safety and Security Bill seeks to consolidate and refresh current food-related laws, strengthen Singapore’s food safety regime to better protect public health, and tackle emerging food security challenges. 

Under the Bill, maximum penalties will be raised to deter against non-compliance, and will be tiered based on severity and culpability of offences, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said in a media factsheet. 

Higher penalties will apply for repeat offenders and companies, offences that involve unsafe food that causes illness, harm and physical injury, and offences that are committed knowingly.

The Bill proposes that individuals who are repeat offenders will face a maximum penalty of S$50,000 (US$37,600) and/or a jail term of up to two years, while corporate entities could be fined up to S$100,000. 

Those whose licences have been revoked due to fraud or multiple food safety lapses will be barred from holding new licences of the same type for up to three years. 

Individuals that have had their license banned are not allowed to hold executive roles such as CEO or director of the same type of food business, said SFA. 

“This prevents unfit and unsuitable persons from operating food businesses, which could jeopardise human or public health.”

For “egregious licensees” whose licence had been revoked, the Bill will also provide “discretionary powers” to ban their applications for a licence to operate other food businesses at the same or other premises, SFA said. 

Additionally, those who are considered “associates”, such as spouses or relatives, will have their relationship with the disqualified offenders taken into consideration when SFA evaluates their licence application, the agency added. 

Several food operators made headlines this year after customers fell ill from consuming contaminated food. 

In April, operations at Chinese restaurant Peach Garden’s Thomson Plaza branch were suspended for a month after dozens fell ill with gastroenteritis symptoms. 

A mass food poisoning incident at ByteDance’s Singapore office in July saw more than 160 people reporting gastroenteritis symptoms. Two caterers who supplied the food – Yun Hai Yao at Northpoint City and Pu Tien Services at Senoko South Road – had their operations suspended.

Stamford Catering Services was hit with a similar fate when more than 50 people fell ill in October.