Your Favorite Restaurant Soy Sauce Bottles May Harbor Deadly Bacteria, Warns Nutritionist

Siin Lin Guan Liang, a Malaysian nutritionist, has shared some disturbing findings about restaurant soy sauce bottles. Last month in a Facebook post, he warned diners about unclean soy sauce bottles and what signs to look for to avoid potential contamination. 

“These white spots in the bottle are #colony. As the name suggests, it may be bacteria, it may be mold. There are countless bacteria in each little white spot, and then you count how many white spots are on it. So sometimes you have diarrhea after eating out is not necessarily a food problem, it can also be a problem of unhygienic feed,” Liang shared. 

According to Liang, you should watch out for white spots and mold. He explained that sometimes stomach aches are caused by bacteria contamination, rather than bad food. Salt deposits and bacteria colonies look similar to the naked eye. The main distinction between white spots made from salt and those from bacteria is that salt has an angular crystal-like shape, whereas bacteria is rounded. 

The main takeaway from Liang’s mindful post is that you should always check condiment bottles, like soy sauce, at restaurants before dousing your food.