Man brings elderly mum to restaurant, nearly drinks chilli crab gravy -- which has metal pin in it

A man brought his elderly mother out to a seafood restaurant for a celebratory meal, which turned sour after they discovered a sharp pin in their chilli crab.

Mr Zhang, 40, said he had taken his mother, 71, to Uncle Leong Signatures, located at FairPrice Hub in Joo Koon, to celebrate Mother's Day last month after buying a one-for-one voucher online.

He told Shin Min Daily News: "My mother and I were eating halfway when I scooped up some sauce. Just as I was about to drink it, I found a SIM card needle floating in the gravy. It gave me a shock."

The needle in question is a pin used to eject SIM cards from mobile phones.

Although restaurant staff replaced the dish, Mr Zhang had already lost his appetite and chose to takeaway the food.

He added: "If it had been a staple, it might have fallen into the food when packaging was being torn open. However, it's really strange that a SIM card needle would have dropped into the food."

Mr Zhang speculated that kitchen staff might have been changing their SIM cards while preparing food.

"If I had not been paying attention or if my mother had swallowed this 2cm metal pin, someone could have ended up hospitalised or even needed surgery. It's simply too dangerous," said Mr Zhang.

The restaurant offered Mr Zhang a $20 discount, which he turned down. He also reported the incident to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).

He added: "My voucher paid for the $88 crab set meal. I also forked out $29 for other food items."

Mr Zhang said that when he questioned the chef, he was told that safety protocols had been followed during food preparation. Staff also suggested that the lapse might have occurred during the transportion process or the needle was already in the crab itself.

Mr Zhang told Shin Min: "I feel that they would have discovered the needle if they had checked carefully during the food preparation process. Maybe they missed a step, which was how the needle appeared on the dining table."

He also pointed out that the needle was in the gravy and hence unlikely to be from inside the crab.

"The chef said it was an accident, but this accident could have led to serious consequences," added Mr Zhang.

Restaurant manager Sun Yonghua, 40, said that upon receiving feedback about the incident, checks were conducted on the kitchen staff but no one was found using a mobile phone that day.

He told Shin Min: "We have strict rules about not using your mobile phone during working hours, let alone taking out a needle (to switch SIM cards)."

Mr Sun also noted that there are surveillance cameras in the restaurant and said he has questioned his employees, but could not identify the source of the needle.

According to him, the chef has already apologised to the customer about the incident.

Mr Sun said that although it was an accident, he acknowledged that there was negligence and said the restaurant would be more careful in future.