'Horrible, traumatising experience': Customer finds squashed rodent in delivery bag from bakery

She wanted a sweet treat, but instead received something more horrifying together with her order. 

One woman, who goes by the username Farah Oh Farah, detailed her harrowing experience in a Facebook post on Wednesday (Nov 8). 

She ordered a box of 20 brownies from Annabella Patisserie in Bukit Batok via GrabFood on the same day.

But when she retrieved the baked goods from the gate of her house, Farah wrote she noticed a "strong pungent smell" emitting from the bag. 

"I was curious so I opened up the bag and took out the box from the bag and found something else inside it... to my horror there was a dead squashed rat inside the bag." 

In the same Facebook post, Farah uploaded several pictures of the squashed rodent, which was stuck to the cover of the bag. 

"This was a horrible, traumatising experience," she said.

Farah also urged the Singapore Food Agency to look into the issue, citing that it was a "serious food contamination and hygiene matter". 

The graphic photos quickly went viral on Facebook, garnering over 1,100 shares and more than 200 reactions from disgusted netizens. 

"This is so ridiculous! Too obvious to miss it," one commented. 

Another also chimed in saying that the rodent could have already been there when the supplier delivered the bags to the bakery. "Till now no verdict I believe we should not start blaming them," they wrote. 

On Thursday, Annabella Patisserie left a comment on Farah's post apologising for the incident.

The company said they were investigating the incident with their partner outlet at Nordcomm, and would give Farah a full refund for her order. 

They also attached a clip from their CCTV showing a staff member packing Farah's order into the bag. The footage showed that there was no rodent in the bag as the staff was packing the order. 

"The staff was preparing the order following the SOP. Rest assured we are still investigating the matter. We are taking this very seriously and we are working closely with our outlet partner delivery company, SFA, supplier and packing team to find the root cause," said the baking company. 

Annabella Patisserie to review quality control processes

In a written statement on Thursday, a representative from Annabella Patisserie said they "deeply apologise for this unfortunate and unacceptable situation".

The company said that the presence of a foreign object in their delivery packaging is a "grave breach of our quality standards" and they have since reached out to the affected customer to provide a full refund and necessary assistance.

Annabella Patisserie has also since initiated an internal investigation to prevent the recurrence of such an incident, and are cooperating with the relevant health and safety authorities.

In addition, the company added that they are reviewing and enhancing their quality control processes to ensure that their products and packaging material meet the highest standards of hygiene and safety.

"We are committed to taking all necessary steps to rectify this situation and make further improvements," they wrote.

Annabella Patisserie also told AsiaOne that their partner outlet at Nordcom will be temporarily closed until further notice.

AsiaOne has contacted Farah and Grab for more information. 

READ ALSO: Diner horrified after spotting 'medium-sized' rat at Ang Mo Kio Vietnamese baguette stall

claudiatan@asiaone.com