Why does coffee powder shelf life matter for food safety?

A Mixue Bingcheng store in Gongcheng County, Guilin, Guangxi was fined 2,000 yuan and had ingredients confiscated after regulators found roasted coffee powder past its shelf life. Inspectors visited on April 8 and seized 26.5 bags, each 380 grams, marked with a production date of 20210808 and a six-month shelf life.

The powder was used to process milk tea, not brewed coffee, which places the case inside the broader new-style tea industry's food safety record. For consumers, the practical point is that coffee powder shelf life set by the maker is a real limit, and ingredients held past it should be discarded rather than blended into drinks.

For office workers, milk tea and coffee are practically the "life-sustaining duo" for daily refreshment, and they feel especially precious after a holiday ends. Mixue Bingcheng, with its dense network stretching from shopping malls to street corners and its wallet-friendly prices, has let many consumers easily get a taste of sweetness. However, a Mixue Bingcheng store in Guilin, Guangxi, was recently fined 2,000 yuan by regulators and had the involved ingredients confiscated because its roasted coffee powder had exceeded its shelf life, casting another shadow over the brand's image. Food safety problems occur frequently in the new-style tea beverage industry, and as Mixue Bingcheng expands rapidly, can it hold the line on quality? This article will review the course of the incident and the industry background, and include channels for obtaining professional coffee information.

For workers, milk tea and coffee are two of the things they can least do without at work. Especially right after the May Day holiday, these "life-sustaining drinks" that refresh the mind and wake you up seem particularly important.

Unlike Starbucks and Luckin, Mixue Bingcheng's stores stretch from large shopping malls all the way to street corners, so it is not hard to find one. Add to that its low prices, and more consumers can easily enjoy a little sweetness without straining their wallets. But behind this sweetness lies a truth that is not so comfortable. Recently, a Mixue Bingcheng milk tea shop was penalized because its "roasted coffee powder" had exceeded its shelf life.

According to Tianyancha APP information, a Mixue Bingcheng milk tea shop in Gongcheng Town, Gongcheng County, Guilin City, Guangxi, was fined 2,000 yuan by the Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County Market Supervision Administration for expired ingredients, and the related products were also confiscated.

Details of the penalty show that when law enforcement officers inspected the store on April 8, they found half a bag of product on the shelf and another 26 bags stacked in the warehouse, all beyond their shelf life. The production date marked on these products was 20210808, the shelf life was 6 months, the product name was "roasted coffee powder," and the purpose was to process and make milk tea. Law enforcement officers seized 26.5 bags of expired products on the spot, each with a net content of 380 grams, and fined the shop 2,000 yuan.

Cold drinks are the star of the hot summer, and their food safety and venue hygiene issues are once again facing scrutiny. Last year, multiple brands in the new-style tea beverage industry were found to have problems, and some reporters even conducted undercover investigations, discovering worrying food safety hazards at Nayuki's tea back kitchen, including poor hygiene conditions and moldy fruit ingredients, which drew considerable attention from workers. Who could have imagined that beneath such a glamorous surface there would be such unbearable secrets? It is truly off-putting.

As a leading brand in the lower-tier market of the new-style tea beverage industry, Mixue Bingcheng has also been found to have multiple food safety problems: expired ingredients, poor environmental hygiene, and so on. Negative news about hygiene and safety has been exposed repeatedly, yet Mixue Bingcheng still sails smoothly in its business operations.

It sticks to its consistent low-price route, with in-store product prices so low that almost no one can match them. Its donations for the severe floods in Henan and its later gestures, such as welcoming police officers into its stores to rest, left many consumers with a good impression of the brand.

Many consumers have high expectations for Mixue Bingcheng. Seeing that this store was fined because of expired coffee powder, they expressed shock and hoped Mixue Bingcheng could rally and not disappoint consumers.

Some netizens also said bluntly that they were disappointed with Mixue Bingcheng and no longer dared to drink it.

The battle among new tea beverage brands for the lower-tier market is intensifying. Brands such as Heytea and Nayuki's Tea, which originally focused on the high-end market, have also set their sights on the mid-range and low-end markets.

As summer arrives, food regulatory and hygiene enforcement will inevitably become stricter. On this year's Consumer Rights Day, the CCTV.com WeChat official account published an article naming Mixue Bingcheng's food safety problems. At the same time, news of Mixue Bingcheng going public occasionally circulates, and as a company not yet listed, it will remain a key target of regulatory scrutiny.

Food safety is an extremely important matter and directly concerns health; it cannot be ignored just because something is sold cheaply!

Image source: Internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.