SINGAPORE — About 50 customers who made reservations at popular spicy hot pot chain Hai Di Lao’s flagship branch at Clarke Quay were affected by its two-week suspension for hygiene lapses, and have been offered a 30 per cent discount.

Responding to TODAY’s queries on Wednesday (Feb 14) via email, the company said it has contacted the customers to apologise for the inconvenience.

The affected customers will be able to dine at any of its five other outlets and be hosted by the outlet managers, said Singapore Haidilao Dining.

Detailing the reasons behind the two hygiene lapses, the restaurant said they were uncovered by the National Environment Agency (NEA) in August and September last year.

The company said an NEA inspector saw a worker at the Clarke Quay branch slice watermelon without gloves on during an inspection on Aug 8.

It said that while it requires all staff to "adhere strictly to food safety regulations and attaches great importance to its food safety management system, it remained that the implementation was not infallible and unfortunately, the food safety lapses occurred as the respective staff was not sufficiently mindful of the relevant food safety requirements”.

"The former store manager of the branch has since resigned of his own accord in December 2017," Hai Di Lao added.

The second incident happened on Sep 20 when NEA inspectors tested samples of side dishes and sauces from the self-service counter.

"All samples complied with NEA’s standards except for one sample of beancurd," said the statement.

The statement added that the inspections revealed "deficiencies in (the) management of the Clarke Quay branch" and that the head office "has paid great attention to the incidents, taking them very seriously”.

The statement also reassured that "relevant processes" were being scrutinised, and that "all departments have stepped up efforts in the management of overseas outlets, to ensure they meet the standards set by the head office".

The Clarke Quay outlet was originally slated to be closed for business on Thursday and Friday (the eve and the first day of Chinese New Year on Feb 15 and 16), the company said.

It will reopen in April after a closure of about 50 days due to the suspension and renovation, it added.

The company’s policy is to refurbish outlets once in about five years to improve the dining experience, it said.

On Monday, the NEA had issued a notice that the branch’s licence would be suspended for two weeks – from Feb 10 to 23 – for hygiene lapses. The restaurant was also slapped with 12 demerit points and fined S$800 for selling food that was unclean and had been handled with bare hands.

Hai Di Lao said it has put in place a comprehensive food safety management system and trained its staff in food handling, in accordance with the NEA’s food safety practices and standards, to prevent such incidents from happening again.

It has approached the NEA for help to strengthen its food safety management system, and asked NEA officials to advise and train its management and staff on personal and food hygiene.

Following inspections by NEA auditors last August, it also hired two independent food safety inspection agencies to carry out unannounced inspections on all its branches here.

The company pledged on Wednesday to place the quality and safety of food first, stressing that it would “exercise more care in building up Hai Di Lao to better serve our many customers”.

Its other outlets in Singapore are at Bedok Mall, VivoCity, 313@Somerset, Plaza Singapura and IMM.