About 57 staff at ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, have been hospitalised after a mass food poisoning incident in Singapore, the company’s headquarters.
The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, affected 60 people who experienced symptoms of gastroenteritis. Of these, 57 were treated in hospital according to BBC news.
Health and food safety officials are investigating the cause of the outbreak. A ByteDance spokesperson confirmed the issue stating, “We take the health and safety of our employees very seriously and have taken immediate steps to support all affected employees, including working with emergency services to provide care. We are investigating the matter and are working with the relevant authorities on this.”
ByteDance does not prepare or cook food at its offices. Instead, it uses third-party caterers to supply meals.
Seventeen ambulances were dispatched to ByteDance’s office building in Singapore’s business district to assist those who had fallen ill.
The Singapore Food Agency, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, stated, “Food operators must play their part by adhering to good food safety practices. SFA will not hesitate to take enforcement action against errant food operators.”
ByteDance, founded in 2012 by Chinese entrepreneurs, first gained major success with the short video app Douyin in China.
The company launched TikTok, an international version of Douyin, a year later. TikTok, which is not available in China, now has more than a billion active users worldwide.
The company is run by a limited liability company based in Singapore and Los Angeles but is essentially owned by ByteDance.
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