As of March 3, 2025, 187 people developed acute gastroenteritis symptoms after consuming ready-to-eat meals distributed during Exercise SG Ready.
Of those affected, 184 were from schools, two from Active Aging Centers, and one from a public institution, representing 0.16% of total exercise participants. All individuals received medical care and recovered with no hospitalizations reported.
Singapore Food Agency (SFA) collected food samples for testing, but no foodborne pathogens were detected, according to Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu in Parliament on March 4, 2025.
The incident began on February 17, 2025, when 20 students from the School of the Arts (SOTA) experienced gastroenteritis symptoms after eating the meals. This prompted authorities to suspend the food supply disruption component of the exercise, which had been designed to simulate crisis scenarios including power outages.
SATS Group manufactured the 150,000 meal portions, which were distributed to over 100,000 teachers and students across more than 90 schools and three polytechnics, plus approximately 8,000 senior citizens at 111 Active Aging Centers.
The meals used sterilization technology similar to combat rations, giving them an eight-month shelf life, though they remain edible after storage for 12 months or longer.
Minister Fu confirmed that SATS Group must comply with standard food safety requirements as an SFA-licensed manufacturer. SFA had inspected SATS Group’s facilities on January 23, 2025, before meal distribution, finding the premises clean with no food safety violations.
SATS Group took additional precautions for the exercise meals, including individual seal testing and microbiological testing by an SFA-accredited laboratory.
SFA and the Ministry of Health are now conducting a thorough investigation. Minister Fu stated that enforcement action will follow if any lapses are identified.
When asked about food safety inspection coverage, Minister Fu explained that authorities apply a risk-based approach to focus resources on higher-risk production stages.
She acknowledged the need to rebuild public confidence in ready-to-eat meals and indicated that SFA will conduct a post-incident review to learn from this situation.
