Mouldy frozen 'tang yuan'? Manufacturer claims 'temperature abuse' behind customer's complaint

While cooking some frozen 'tang yuan' (glutinous rice balls), a customer discovered some "green stuff" on several of the sweet rice balls, which turned out to be mould. 

Taking to Facebook group Complaint Singapore on Tuesday (July 16), the shopper said he had bought two packs of the Spring Home brand product from the FairPrice outlet at Yew Tee Point.

Both packs expire in May 2025, and only one pack was affected, he added. 

Photos accompanying his post show dark green spots on several of the frozen glutinous rice balls. He said he bought the items over a month ago.

The customer subsequently contacted food manufacturer Tee Yih Jia, which said in an email reply to him that their quality assurance and control team observed "serious mould growth" on the glutinous rice balls, which indicates that there is "a broken cold chain".

The cold chain is the maintenance of temperature-sensitive food products at the correct temperature across the supply chain process to ensure food safety and quality.

And as the glutinous rice balls do not contain any preservatives, it must be stored in frozen conditions "to prevent deterioration", explained the manufacturer.

Tee Yih Jia also said in their email reply that its temperature controls on the production date of the affected pack of glutinous rice balls were within controlled limits.

No other complaints over that batch: Manufacturer

The food company said that they have not received other complaints from the affected batch, pointing out that only one out of the two packs the customer bought had mould.

"Temperature abuse might have happened at the selling point where customers take the product out from the freezer, continued their shopping [while] leaving the product out to thaw at room temperature, and decided not to purchase [at the end]."

In a follow-up email to the customer, Tee Yih Jia advised him to return to the FairPrice outlet to discuss recourse if he had kept the receipt.

But the customer questioned in his post: "How long do most of you normally keep the receipts for frozen products that you bought and store in the freezer don't consume immediately?" 

'No non-conformance detected'

In response to AsiaOne's queries, Tee Yih Jia said the company has a comprehensive food safety management system in place.

Investigations into details such as the product's manufacturing date, delivery information, cold room temperature records and related surveillance data found that there was "no non-conformance detected".

Hence, the manufacturer suspects the possibility of temperature abuse at the point of selling.

Tee Yih Jia said that customers should return the product to their original point of purchase to get a refund, based on their proof of purchase.

"It can also help the outlet of purchase to investigate whether there are problems with their storage and internal processes. If the retailer determines that the cause of the defective product is not due to them, the retailer will escalate the matter to the manufacturer or the distributor," added the manufacturer.

AsiaOne has reached out to the customer and FairPrice for more information.

ALSO READ: FairPrice apologises and offers refund after customer finds mould on newly bought eggs

lim.kewei@asiaone.com