Second woman dies from rojak meal

This is an article taken from The Straits Times on 9th April 2009.

The worst food-poisoning outbreak in Singapore has claimed its second victim on Wednesday. Madam Noraini Kasim, 58, died in Alexandra Hospital without coming out of coma into which she lapsed during the weekend. Her retired husband, Mr Mohd Salleh Sarip, 65, is in shock over how quickly her condition worsened. On Friday, hours after a mid-afternoon meal of Indian rojak from the stall named Rojak Geylang Serai in the Geylang Serai Market, she came down with diarrhoea. It was so bad that she was trailing blood as she made her way to the toilet. However her condition did not improve the next day thus she was admitted to a hospital. Her heart stopped at least three times during the weekend before she entered coma. Madam Noraini was with a friend for that meal of indian rojak. Her friend who ate only a little of it, was fine.

But neither Madam Noraini nor Madam Aminah Samijo, 57, who died on Monday, were as lucky. Another 144 people were treated as outpatients or had to be hospitalised. Among them was Madam Rosiah Samat, 38, who had diarrhoea on Friday evening, followed by a miscarriage. Thus actually a total of three lives has been taken away if you consider the baby as one.

It is suspected that the food-poisoning outbreak was caused by a cross-contamination of rojak and raw seafood ingredients harbouring the bacteria. The stall was also rated C for its hygiene last December. However the rojak stallholder Sheik Allaudin Mohideen said that he had been making a living for more than 22 years by selling rojak and this has never happened before. He also said that he prepared his food fresh every morning and dumped unsold portions.

So what do you think of this incident? Is the problem with the hygiene of the stall or perhaps it is because of something else?