A Din Tai Fung customer found a cotton bud in a plate of Oriental Salad in Special Vinegar Dressing at the Suntec City outlet on March 2.

The restaurant told Stomp that the foreign object came from a raw ingredient supplied by a vendor:

Stomp contributor Zhi Chen, who was the customer, said: "They offered me a full refund for the meal which I accepted."

In response to a Stomp query, a Din Tai Fung spokesperson confirmed that the restaurant received feedback regarding the incident which occurred at 4pm.

"This matter was raised to the service staff at the restaurant on the day itself," said the spokesperson.

"Upon being alerted to the situation, the service staff took immediate action and proceeded to remove the dish.

"The team subsequently provided a full waiver of the diner's final bill, which was accepted during their visit.

"Our primary concern was to mitigate the experience faced by the diner, while we conducted a thorough internal investigation.

"This detailed inquiry was also extended to the staff directly involved in serving the dish to the diner, as well as the chef responsible for preparing the dish's ingredients. Following the assessment, disciplinary action has been taken against staff who failed to comply with ingredient quality checks.

"We have ascertained that the foreign object originated from a raw ingredient supplied by one of our vendors."

The spokesperson added: "Din Tai Fung deeply regrets this incident and would like to sincerely apologise for any inconvenience or discomfort it may have caused to our valued diners.

"Moving forward, Din Tai Fung has implemented additional control measures and will continue to conduct stringent checks on ingredients before they enter our kitchen facilities. We have also reinforced rigorous staff training to ensure thorough compliance with our food handling processes, to prevent the recurrence of such incidents."

The Stomp contributor pointed out that a cotton bud was also found in the same dish at a Din Tai Fung restaurant in another location.

That location was Jem on Aug 18, 2023, as reported by Stomp.

Din Tai Fung told Stomp then that it immediately conducted a detailed inquiry after the incident.

"The inspection concluded, noting the adherence to our stringent dish preparation protocols and exacting food hygiene standards," said the restaurant.

"Most importantly, our investigations confirmed the absence of any foreign objects within our kitchen facilities."

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This article was first published in Stomp. Permission required for reproduction.