Total Defence Day ready-to-eat meals linked to 187 cases of food poisoning, probe ongoing

Testing of the samples of the meals collected by Singapore Food Agency found no food-borne pathogens, said Ms Grace Fu. ST PHOTO: TARYN NG

Gabrielle Chan

UPDATED Mar 04, 2025, 11:50 AM

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SINGAPORE – A total of 187 cases of gastroenteritis were reported, following a dissemination of Ready-to-Eat (RTE) meals as part of a Total Defence Day exercise.

There were 184 cases from schools, two from active ageing centres and one from a public agency.

This is about 0.16 per cent of all participants, said Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment in Parliament on March 4.

“All affected individuals have received the necessary medical attention and have since recovered,” she added, noting that no one was hospitalised.

She was responding to questions from several MPs on the recent food poisoning incident at the School of the Arts (Sota), when 20 students had symptoms of gastroenteritis after eating RTE meals.

The meals were part of 150,000 RTE meals developed by food solutions provider Sats for public consumption during national emergencies, which were to be distributed from Feb 15 to 28 as part of 2025 Exercise SG Ready.