Popular restaurant in China faces backlash after rat found in soup
recovered somewhat but are still down about 8 per- cent from pre-Ratgate levels.) Imagine finding an entire China is no stranger to rat — head, claws, tail and all food-safety scandals, and — baked into a stuffed-crust this was just the latest hot pizza. After you’ve already pot horror, coming days after eaten half of it. a prominent Chinese TV sta
That’s sort of what haption reported a woman find- pened to a family at one of ing maggots in her soup. China’s most popular restauVariations of hot pot are rant chains. A man in Shan- popular throughout Asia, dong province said he was from Vietnam to Mongohalfway through a hot pot lia to Japan (Xiabu Xiabu dinner with his pregnant comes from the Japanese wife — a meal in which din- word for hot pot: shabu ers cook raw meats and vegshabu). Down-market hot etables in a pot of bubbling, pot joints in China some- spicy broth — before realiz- times have the stigma of ing that the murky liquid uncleanliness attached to contained an unexpected them, mostly because the ingredient: whole rodent. ingredients used in such
The hot pot chain, Xiabu meals are often inexpen- Xiabu, saw its stock price sive, and poor quality can on the Hong Kong exchange be masked by the intense plummet 12 percent after a flavors and cooking process. video of the incident went But the bubbling, commuviral, wiping out more than nal meals, with their assort- $190 million of its market ments of dipping sauces and value. (Shares have since dazzling spreads of raw ingre- dients, remain among the most popular meals in China. Overseas, too, the hot pot is having a moment in hip foodie centers, particularly in cities with large Chinese populations, and Chinese chains are hoping to capitalize on that burgeoning popularity to grow into global brands.
Viral videos of dead rats aren’t helping.
Haidilao, a rival chain that has opened locations in New York in recent years, is on the verge of holding a $1 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong to continue expanding internationally. In a preliminary IPO prospectus, it informed investors about its past food-safety incidents and noted the measures it has taken. The chain last year started piping surveillance-video feeds from kitchens to customer areas after another viral video showed rats in its kitchen.