IRVINS Salted Egg apologised on Wednesday (Jan 2) after a customer found a dead lizard in a packet of fish skin snack.
"All of us at IRVINS Salted Egg were very shocked and devastated to hear that one of our customers discovered a dead lizard in a snack pouch that she opened," said the local brand in a Facebook post signed off by co-founder Irvin Gunawan.
"We really want to sincerely apologise to the customer and everyone who is affected by this incident directly or indirectly," he said, adding that he has personally reached out to the customer.
The apology was made after Facebook user Jane Holloway complained that her family members found a gecko in the snack bag.
"I can’t believe IRVINS Salted Egg is not purely salmon fish skin but also gecko! My poor brother and mum ate half the bag before they found this inside!" she wrote. "This gecko was probably deep fried with the salmon skin by the looks of it. Eeeewwww!"
IRVINS Salted Egg said it is investigating the incident, adding that it has reported the matter to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA).
"We promise to investigate this further as we don’t have a full explanation on how the dead lizard ended up in our snack pouch and we promise to make the necessary changes in our production to ensure this will never happen again," said Mr Gunawan.
Customers who have packets of the fish skin snack that expire on Oct 16, 2019, or those who are uncomfortable consuming the snacks, can contact IRVINS Salted Egg for refunds.
All recalled products will be disposed of, said the company, whose products are popular among locals and tourists.
"This is a major blow to us, however we promise that we will fix this issue and continue to be an honest and responsible company to all of you," said Mr Gunawan.
