Man finds black foreign matter in vending machine orange juice, suffers diarrhoea and dizziness next day

A man who bought orange juice from an iJooz vending machine discovered unidentified black matter in his cup after drinking half of it. He experienced diarrhoea and dizziness the next day.

Mr Xu, 58, told Shin Min Daily News that he bought freshly squeezed orange juice from an iJooz vending machine outside Punggol Plaza at about 7.30pm on the fifth of this month.

He said he and his family were regular iJooz customers and never checked their drinks after buying them because they trusted the quality.

As usual, he began drinking immediately after buying the juice that day. After drinking about half, he handed it to his wife, who noticed numerous black particles on the underside of the plastic film sealing the cup. When they peeled off the film, they saw many thin, black, thread-like objects in the juice.

“We don’t know what these things are or how they got into the orange juice.”

Concerned that other unsuspecting customers might buy and drink contaminated orange juice, he returned to the same vending machine about 20 minutes later to buy another cup. This one appeared normal, and they finished it, albeit hesitantly and with some apprehension.

Mr Xu said he had diarrhoea twice the following morning and felt dizzy until the afternoon, heightening his concern about whether the juice containing the unidentified foreign matter had affected his health.

He subsequently emailed the vending machine company to report the incident.

Shin Min Daily News contacted iJooz about the incident but had not received a response by press time.

In response to queries, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said it was looking into the matter and gathering evidence. It may contact the person who provided the feedback for more details and would not hesitate to take enforcement action once it had sufficient evidence.

A spokesperson said operators of food vending machines that process food internally, such as those that make fruit juice, must obtain an SFA licence and clean and maintain their machines regularly.

“Food safety is a shared responsibility. While SFA establishes and enforces regulatory measures, food vending machine operators must also do their part by observing good food hygiene and preparation practices, and ensuring their machines are clean and properly maintained.”