‘Felt sick to my stomach’: restaurant in China caught mixing orange juice with tap water from mop sink apologises and demotes manager
- Mop sink tap incident sparks outrage online amid increasing frustration over food safety standards in China
- Customer videoing incident seen by a worker mixing the juice who tried to hide evidence while other staff tried to stop him filming
A restaurant in China is embroiled in a food hygiene scandal after an employee was caught on camera mixing tap water from a floor mop sink with orange juice.
Tianye Restaurant, a chain based in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, eastern China has apologised after news of the incident trended online, according to a report by the news outlet Jimu News.
A video taken by a customer shows a restaurant employee placing a large pot of concentrated orange juice into a basin used for washing mops and adding tap water.
Mops and brooms can be seen in the clip hanging next to the basin, a dustpan containing rubbish can also be seen nearby.
When the employee realised she was being videoed, she immediately removed the bucket of juice mix from the basin and poured it into a serving pot as other staff members tried to stop the man filming.
“They just use tap water to make orange juice for us,” the man shouted to other diners in the video.
“You are letting so many customers down.”
Public anger over the scandal has been particularly vocal in Wenzhou, where the free orange juice is popular with children and teenagers.
In a statement issued on August 26, Tianye Restaurant apologised for the juice incident, which it blamed on a lack of supervision and a relaxed management style at the chain eatery involved.
The restaurant’s manager has been demoted and the employees involved have been suspended and placed on a food hygiene training programme.
The local market supervision authority has not commented on the incident.
The scandal has caused outrage on mainland social media as frustration mounts over food hygiene standards in China.
“This is vicious and disgusting! It deserves fierce condemnation,” said one online observer.
“The fact that the cost of committing this crime is low and the punishment is too light are the reasons for myriad food safety scandals,” another person said.
Poor hygiene standards and management, particularly in restaurants and schools, often make headlines in China.
In 2021, kitchen staff at a porridge restaurant chain with 1,000 outlets nationwide were caught using leftover food scraps to make congee and handling food without washing their hands.
