A box of raw chicken exposed to direct sunlight on the doorstep of Green Hills restaurant Sing Hung was photographed and circulated on Facebook this week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A passerby photographed the chicken and the truck that delivered it and posted them as a split image on the social media site.
The picture was accompanied by the comment: “I was coming out the dentist at greenhills [sic] and a delivery driver has dropped chicken off at the Chinese restaurant and with it [the restaurant] not being open he just leaves the chicken products in the sun.”
The post was shared 937 times and resulted in a wave of criticism directed at Sing Hung’s health standards.
Negative comments included “that’s horrid wouldn’t want to eat there” and “this makes you wonder what you could be eating from this shop”.
Sing Hung co-owner Natalie Lam was disappointed that the image was posted to Facebook without the photographer first contacting the delivery service, the restaurant or Maitland City Council.
“There is a phone number on that truck, shouldn’t he [the photographer] have rung that company?” she asked.
Ms Lam said that when her husband Hoi Hing arrived at work and found the chicken, the delivery company was contacted and told the chicken could not be served.
Sing Hung was then visited by a health department inspector who confirmed the exposed chicken had been returned to the supplier.
With a loyal customer base behind them, Ms Lam was confident the quality of the restaurant’s food would still be trusted.
“We have to leave it to the customers to decide,” Ms Lam said. “We have been here 25 years, they should know.
“We did have a customer that rang up and gave us his support.
“We have to return goods [to suppliers] all the time, this is not the first time.”
Ms Lam added that the delivery company had apologised for the delivery.
She also said the restaurant had not received any accusatory phone calls from the public.
Employee Shayne-Maree said the Sing Hung’s kitchen was hygienic.
“I have worked for these people for 10 years and you won’t find cleaner people,” she said.
“The [Facebook] comments made could have ruined this family business.
“Everybody has jumped to conclusions.”
