Employee counselled after mixing cleaning solution in sink of Culina food store at FairPrice supermarket

An employee who was seen mixing cleaning solution with a mop and a pail in the sink at a Culina food store last month has been counselled.

Stomper Po said she witnessed the incident at FairPrice Finest Zhongshan Park on Dec 10, at around 6.15pm. The gourmet food counter is located in the supermarket at Zhongshan Mall.

Po told Stomp: "It attracted my attention because there was a very strong chemical smell. There was something that smelt like bleach coming from the food counter.

"I saw the employee with a mop and a pail in a sink at the food counter that was meant for food.

"I was shocked."

In response to a Stomp query, a Culina spokesman said it has since investigated the incident.

The spokesman said in a statement on Friday (Jan 10): "Maintaining high food safety and hygiene standards is paramount at Culina.

"We take this matter seriously and have since conducted an investigation on this incidence.

"Our findings reveal that the staff in question was preparing to sanitise the area and was using the sink to dilute the cleaning solution in a pail.

"Mixing of the cleaning solution should be done in the back of house. This was a deviation from our protocol and we have since counselled our staff and conducted a thorough cleaning of the sink in question.

"We thank the customer for bringing this to our attention and will continue to do our due diligence and maintain regular checks and training."