Workers at two popular restaurant chains in China were caught in a secret video reusing food scraps and handling meals with dirty hands, according to a report.
Man Ling restaurant, which has more than 1,000 locations across China and calls itself “healthy”, apologized to the public after the scandalous video was released.
Employees were filmed using leftover food to cook the congee – a classic Chinese rice porridge – as well as other disgusting practices, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday. They were also caught putting their dirty hands on the larva.
An employee even pulled pork ribs out of a pan with leftover soup and used them to cook Chinese yam and meat porridge for other customers, according to the report.
“Yes, that’s what’s left,” a Man Ling employee told the undercover reporter at Fujian Television when asked if there were any food security problems.
“It’s okay to cook again.”
Man Ling, known for its low-price offerings, sells more than 180 million bowls of porridge each year, according to a food ordering data analysis app.
His store in Fuzhou, southeastern China, was closed earlier this week after the scandal, and the chain apologized on Monday for “disappointing” its customers, according to the South China Morning Post.
Sanmi Congee, which is another famous restaurant chain with more than 1,100 stores across China, has also been investigated and exposed for hiring people without a health certificate and similar hygienic practices at one of its stores in the city.
Sanmi Congee, another popular chain with more than 1,100 locations across China, was also exposed in the secret report of hiring people without health certificates and similar hygienic practices at one of its restaurants in Fuzhou.
He issued a similar mea culpa a day later, admitting on Tuesday the “health and safety risks” revealed by the disguised reporter. That store was also closed and removed from online applications, according to the report.
Both brands belong to separate Shanghai-based companies and have enjoyed a recent business boom thanks to cheap offers amid the food delivery craze.