Story | Soon Minh, Staff Writer
Photo | Energy News Bulletin, DOS Office
CORRECTION: a previous version of this article overlooked the fact that Infrastructure, Safety and Security team is also involved in the investigation. and mistakenly stated that the questionnaire was done by an external consultant. The Octant apologizes for these mistakes.
Following Student Government (StuGov) reports of many Yale-NUS students feeling unwell after eating at the dining halls on Monday, January 18, dining vendor Sodexo, the Dean of Students (DoS) Office, and the Infrastructure, Safety and Security team had begun investigations at the time of writing. The investigation has since been taken over by the Ministry of Health and Singapore Food Agency.
The following day, representatives from the Student Government reached out to affected students for details to share with Sodexo and the Dining Experience Team.
On Wednesday, Jan. 20, the DoS sent an email addressing the suspected case of food poisoning, urging all unwell students to seek medical attention.
Students were also invited to fill in a questionnaire as part of a formal investigation by Sodexo and the College.
Meanwhile, Sodexo has released an interim statement stating that the safety and well-being of students, staff and community continued to remain “top priority” and their health and safety team will conduct a “full and thorough” investigation with the college.
Both DOS and Sodexo assured students that updates would be provided as the investigation progressed.
Sodexo had previously investigated another incident of suspected food poisoning two years ago and found themselves innocent.
This semester marks the end of Sodexo’s existing contract with Yale-NUS College. The college is changing their dining hall model and is in the process of identifying a suitable vendor, as announced in an email by the DoS dated in October, 2020.