60 employees at TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, in the Singapore office, have been hospitalized in an apparent food poisoning outbreak on Tuesday.
ByteDance told BBC that Health and food safety officials in Singapore are investigating the incident, which left 60 people with symptoms of gastroenteritis . Fifty-seven of them were treated in hospital.
ByteDance has also said it is looking into what caused its employees to fall ill.
According to BBC, no food is prepared or cooked at the ByteDance offices, and it uses third-party caterers to supply food.
According to local media reports, seventeen ambulances were sent to Singapore’s business district building to treat the injured.
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“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,” a ByteDance spokesperson said.
Further, in a joint statement, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and the Ministry of Health announced that they are investigating the matter and working with the relevant authorities.
“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,” the statement added.
Founded in 2012 by Chinese entrepreneurs, ByteDance had its first major success with the short video app Douyin in China.
A year later, it launched TikTok, an international version of Douyin.
