A MAN in China and his colleagues had fallen victim to a negligent and unhygienic restaurant practice after ordering a takeaway hotpot dish from the country’s local franchise.
Hong Kong media publication Baidu reported that the man, known as Ning said that he had ordered the hotpot meal for two on a delivery service platform, as a treat for his colleagues after their overtime shift.
Once the food arrived, he and his colleagues found the colour of the broth to be suspiciously cloudy but thought nothing of it initially.
“It was obvious that the colour of the soup was different and more cloudy,” Mr. Ning said.
He then confirmed with his colleagues at the time asking: “Did you order the tomato pot?” and after they said no, they dug in to their meal.
It was later on during the dinner that Mr. Ning discovered a ‘huge piece of hairy belly inside’ which he grabbed and thought “(The hairy belly) is so big. Is the business really doing this?”
Just when he was about to cut into the ‘belly’, a colleague pointed out that there were fibers attached to it and upon further inspection, both of them confirmed it was a dirty rag that was soaked in the hotpot broth and turned grayish brown.
Ning said that his colleagues fell sick and vomited on the spot. He then took matters into his own hands and contacted the restaurant.
“The merchant said that the pot was hot when pouring out the broth and the rag fell into the broth.
They asked me what kind of solution do I want now and then told me that they can make me a new batch (of hotpot) and send it to me,” Ning explained.
He mentioned that their response irked him and added: “Will I still be in the mood to eat now?”. He also asked the management of the restaurant to come and see the proof of the dirty rag in the hotpot but they did not respond to his demand.
Ning also filed a complaint to the food delivery company he ordered the hotpot from and 12315, China’s government hotline for consumer complaints.
Another report by South China Morning Post who spoke to the establishment’s manager, who wanted to remain anonymous, that said incident was due to an ill junior staff who had carelessly handled the soup base pots.
“He is only 19 years old and only just started working. He had a mild fever while preparing the dish,” she said.
“We have fired him but will pay him for his work. We have closed the store for rectification and are talking with the customer about monetary compensation,” she added.
Ning had also requested an intervention by the Chinese government to look into the matter as he was not seeking compensation but was dissatisfied with the restaurant management’s attitude toward the situation.
