According to a report, workers at two popular restaurant chains in China have been captured in a covert video reusing leftover food and manipulating meals with dirty hands.
Man Ling Restaurant, which has more than 1,000 locations across China and is marketed as “healthy,” apologized to the public after the outrageous video appeared.
Staff were filmed with leftover food to cook congee, a classic Chinese rice meal, as well as other outrageous practices, the South China Morning Post reported Wednesday. They were also beaten by placing their hands unwashed on the larva.
An employee even removed pork chops from a leftover soup pot and used them to cook Chinese yam and meat congee for other diners, according to the report.
“Yes, it remains,” a Man Ling worker told the Fujian Television undercover journalist when asked if there were any food security issues.
“It’s not bad to cook again.”
Man Ling, known for its low-priced offers, sells more than 180 million congee bowls each year, according to a food order data analysis app.
Its store in Fuzhou, southeast China, was closed earlier this week after the scandal and the chain apologized Monday for “disappointing” its customers, according to the South China Morning Post.
Sanmi Congee, which is another famous chain restaurant with more than 1,100 stores across China, was also investigated and exposed for hiring people without a health certificate and similar unhealthy practices in one of their city stores.
Sanmi Congee, another popular chain with more than 1,100 locations across China, was also exposed in the covert report of hiring people without a health certificate and similar unhealthy practices at one of its restaurants in Fuzhou.
A day later he issued a similar mea culpa, admitting on Tuesday the “hygiene and safety hazards” revealed by the undercover journalist. According to the report, this store was also closed and removed from online apps.
Both brands are owned by separate Shanghai-based companies and have enjoyed recent commercial booms thanks to their economic offerings amid the fashion of food delivery.