The recent Singaporean government crackdown on Prima, now engaged in a running battle with the Sri Lankan government over price increases, revealed the absence of an effective mechanism here to monitor the multi-nationals.

The following is a Straits Times story by Diana Othman in its December 29th issue.

The production time at Singapore's PrimaDeli is chugging along rapidly today as the bakery tries to stock all its 39 outlets for their reopening tomorrow.

"We will start by producing the full range of buns and pastries and 20 per cent of the cakes," said Ms. Pansy Wong, deputy general manager of Prima Food.

Only 20 percent of the cream cakes will be produced for the moment as the company is still getting used to the new, more stringent hygiene measure it has adopted.

Production numbers will be stepped up once PrimaDeli settles into the new routine, Ms. Wong said.

The home-grown bakery is resuming production after getting the all-clear to resume full operations from the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) on Saturday. This follows a partial resumption of its operations on Dec. 21 after getting the backing go-ahead from the AVA.

The green light comes almost a month after the factory was closed on Dec. 4, when PrimaDeli cakes, which were popular among buyers here, were fingered in Singapore's largest salmonella poisoning scare in recent memory.

Between late last month and early this month, 204 people fell ill with food poisoning after eating PrimaDeli cakes.

Some 15 people were hospitalized. Among them was a 11-month-old toddler who had been fed some of the cake during a family birthday bash.

Investigations conducted by the AVA pinpointed salmonella-contaminated ingredients, such as hazelnut paste and chocolate cream, as the culprits behind the outbreak.

Through its checks, the Health Ministry also found that 14 food handlers from the factory and outlets tested positive for the bacteria.

Since then, the factory has undergone extensive and intensive cleaning and disinfection.

AVA officers have also been keeping an eagle eye on the outfit, collecting some 75 swab samples for micro-biological testing.

PrimaDeli is also trying to take greater precautions to prevent the incident from recurring. Besides sending samples of their ingredients for more extensive and frequent testing, it is overhanding the way it tracks its cakes.

From the batches of ingredients used right up to where the cake was delivered and sold all this will be captured in the new system.

Its staff have to go for regular salmonella tests. Now, workers also have to record their sick days using a new log card system, so that the company will know, at a glance, which employees have been sick and which ones should go for check-ups.

Prima food handlers from the factory and retail stores have also gone for a refresher course on food and personal hygiene.

A Prima spokesman yesterday said that they hope for the best upon reopening, but declined to comment if sales will be affected due to the recent salmonella scare.

An informal poll among consumers revealed mixed feelings.

Miss Khoo Li Ying, 25, a civil servant, was upbeat. After the whole scandal, I think PrimaDeli will make sure that their standards are better, so I would buy their products."

But Miss Norkhairaha Mobd Taha, a 25-year-old social worker, was not so gung-ho.

She said it would take some time before she will buy Prima food again:

"They must prove that their food is really safe to eat in the next few moths before I can trust the brand again."

Mr. Pal Singh, who runs a PrimaDeli franchise at Centrepoint, said he is enthusiastic about reopening as his customers are still calling in to ask if the bakery is open to take orders.

Prima's management has been in negotiations with its franchises to compensate for their almost month-long closure. Full payment to these outlets will be made soon.

So far, 180 calls have been made to the Prima hotline on 6277-7171. It will be kept open to address any inquiries from the public.