Per Editor: Li Zedong
On December 13, the well-known coffee brand Starbucks was exposed to the problem that coffee ingredients continued to sell after expiration, the shelf life was arbitrarily changed, and the scrapped pastries were put on the shelves. At noon on the 13th, Starbucks China Weibo released a message, the content is as follows:
We have followed the reports about two Starbucks stores in Wuxi. We are deeply shocked by the food safety issues covered in the report. We are highly concerned about this incident, and have closed these two stores at the first time and immediately launched an in-depth investigation.
In the 22 years since entering the Chinese market, we have been committed to implementing strict food safety standards and adopting a resolute zero-tolerance attitude towards food safety issues. We welcome the public and the media to conduct continuous supervision of us.
The two stores were exposed to tampering with the shelf life of raw materials
According to the Beijing News, on the morning of December 13, an undercover investigation of two Starbucks stores in Wuxi found that some stores frequently touched the red line of food safety.
Ingredients continue to be used after expiration, making a variety of best-selling drinks for sale, if there is a lot of old material leftovers, the clerk will directly tamper with the shelf life. Black tea and matcha liquids, which originally had a shelf life of only one day, often have a lot left at the expiration time, so tampering with the shelf life often occurs. The store supervisor is also aware of this behavior, the supervisor, the clerk "words and deeds" to tamper with the shelf life, some ingredients were artificially "extended" for a week.
Tampering with the shelf life of ingredients is not a special operation of this Starbucks store. At another Starbucks store, they did the same thing with expired ingredients.
Pastries that promise to "stay overnight after opening" are secretly on the shelves the next day. One supervisor made it even clear that he would put the rest of the previous day on the counter and continue to sell, "first sell the leftovers from yesterday, and then sell the new ones today." ”
In addition, the above-mentioned stores also have health problems such as wiping the garbage can with a bar towel and not discarding the towel, but continuing to use it, as well as handling the problem ingredients in advance to cope with inspections.
Chocolate liquor and matcha liquor are processed into drinks and sold after they expire
According to An Jian, the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, in late October, the reporter was recruited to work at the Zhenze Road store in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, where he worked to make a variety of drinks, including coffee. After joining, they are required to go directly to the post and be taught by an old employee. Outside of working hours, Starbucks has arranged online classes for new employees to learn coffee making and rules and regulations through their mobile phones.
In Starbucks' rules and regulations, special emphasis is placed on food safety issues. However, the reporter found that the relevant regulations on food safety are useless here, and the ingredients are still used after expiration.
Chocolate liquor is one of the ingredients that are commonly prepared in the store, and is made from chocolate powder mixed with water. Starbucks's Product Opening Shelf Life Summary Table states that this chocolate liquor has a shelf life of 48 hours under refrigerated conditions. On the morning of October 31, the reporter found a barrel of chocolate liquid stored in the refrigerator, the use period was before 8 o'clock on October 31, and when the reporter saw it, the barrel of chocolate liquid had passed the shelf life, but the clerk did not scrap it according to the regulations.
On more than one occasion, the clerk used the expired chocolate liquor to make drinks for customers, including the best-selling breakfast drink, cocoa vapor.
A pot of matcha liquid used to make matcha lattes in the store that day has also expired. Label information shows that it expired at 8:40 a.m. on October 31, and near 2 p.m. that day, a clerk used the expired matcha liquid to make a matcha latte for the customer, and then the pot of matcha was also put back in place, waiting for the next use.
On the afternoon of November 7, at the Starbucks Wuxi Zhenze Road store, the peach pulp placed in the refrigerator had expired, and the two bottles of cream next to it had also expired.
Ten minutes before expiration, the label is changed, and 4 kinds of expired ingredients appear in the store a day
The use of expired ingredients is not a special case in the store, but a well-known practice among supervisors and staff.
On the afternoon of November 7, a pot of black tea liquid at the bar was not labeled with shelf life, and a clerk who made drinks at the bar explained why, "Because it has expired, I tore off the label." "The same label is missing, and there is a bottle of expired cream.
A note at the bar records the expiration time of several ingredients, stating that the expiration time of the black tea liquid is 11:30 and the expiration time of the cream is 13:26. The note also recorded the expiration times of peach pulp and matcha liquid at 12:30 and 13:40 respectively, and the clerk had no time to tear off their shelf life labels for the two bottles of ingredients, and the shelf life information recorded on them was consistent with the one recorded on the note.
It's 5 p.m., which means that all four of the above ingredients have expired.
But in the eyes of the clerk, there is nothing wrong with these ingredients, and they are still often used to make drinks for customers. On the same day, the reporter reflected the expiration of 4 kinds of ingredients to the store duty supervisor, "These kinds of ingredients are expired, do you want to dump them and replace them with new ones?" The duty supervisor was apparently aware of the situation and had agreed to continue using these expired ingredients.
Starbucks China said it had opened an internal investigation
According to the Beijing Youth Daily reported on December 13, Starbucks China said that in response to the two stores in Wuxi Starbucks that tampered with the shelf life of raw materials and promised to sell the pastry the next day after opening, it has begun an internal investigation, and the results will be replied as soon as possible.
The reporter found through the Starbucks App inquiry that as of press time, one of the stores involved, the Wuxi Starbucks Zhenze Road store, one of the stores involved, has been displayed as "closed for business", and another store involved, starbucks Wuxi Changxing Building Store, can still be ordered.
Daily Economic News is comprehensively reported from Beijing Youth Daily, Beijing News, Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission An Jian, and public information
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