Starting today, you won’t able to satiate your relish for Chinese-style raw fish dishes anytime soon — and for good reason too.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) has put out an order to all food stalls to halt the sale of such dishes until they can comply with stipulated guidelines.
The order comes after a man fell into coma after he was infected by Group B Streptococcus (GBS) bacteria that he reportedly acquired from a bowl of Yusheng raw fish porridge.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) also found a definite link between eating the dishes and the GBS infection, which can potentially cause permanent disability and even death.
Tests revealed the GBS bacteria was found on 20.1 percent of the 400 fish samples, while 4.1 percent tested positive for the strain known as Sequence Type 283, TODAY reports.
“So what we’re doing going forward is to inform all these premises that continue to sell Chinese-style raw fish (dishes) that they should cease sales of such raw fish until such time they are able to comply with the advisory and guidelines, which we will be issuing to them for safe handling of raw ready to eat fish,” said NEA’s director-general of environmental public health Derek Ho, as quoted by TODAY.
Advisories will be handed out to food stalls, listing out strict guidelines. NEA are also advising that vulnerable groups of people — especially young children, pregnant women, elderly persons — avoid consuming raw food as a precaution.
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