Tapioca pearls, as the soul ingredient of milk tea, have their freshness directly linked to consumer health. Recently, the Yidian Yidian Zhoushan Ruxin Plaza store was fined 15,000 yuan by regulatory authorities for using expired tapioca pearls to make and sell Bubble Milk Tea and other beverages. An investigation revealed that the store not only used ingredients beyond their shelf life but also failed to establish purchase inspection records as required. This is not the first time Yidian Yidian has been embroiled in a food safety scandal; previously, a Fuzhou store was reported to have had a bug found in its milk tea. As the peak season for summer beverage consumption arrives, food safety issues have once again sounded the alarm.

Speaking of milk tea, a joke from Rock & Roast once went: "What I'm drinking isn't milk tea, it's clearly a cup of zongzi mixed with water." The "porridge-ification" trend of milk tea precisely illustrates that toppings play a pivotal role in milk tea consumption. Among the many classic toppings, tapioca pearls, as the founding father of milk tea, hold a position that almost no one can shake. However, recently, a well-known milk tea brand has been thrust into the spotlight for using expired tapioca pearls.

Riri Zhuan (Zhejiang) Catering Management Co., Ltd. Zhoushan Changzhi Island Branch (Yidian Yidian Zhoushan Ruxin Plaza store) was fined 15,000 yuan by the Xincheng Branch of the Zhoushan Market Supervision Administration for selling expired food.

According to the Credit China website, on November 26, 2021, the store purchased 10 boxes of "1點點" brand tapioca pearls (6 bags/box) from Shanghai Fujingde Food Co., Ltd. at 43.5 yuan/bag, totaling 180 kg, and paid 2,610 yuan. Starting from mid-January 2022, the store boiled these tapioca pearls into "boba" for making drinks such as "Boba Milk Tea/Milk Green," "Four Seasons Spring + Pearl Boba Coconut," "Mixed Pearls Red/Green/Oolong/Dark," "Passion Triple," or added them as free toppings to other drinks. On February 14, 2022, this batch of "1點點" brand tapioca pearls exceeded their shelf life, but the store still stored them in the operation area, mixed with other batches of food, and continued to use them.

As of February 22, 2022, when they were caught on the spot, the store had used expired tapioca pearls to make at least 2 large cups of Bubble Milk Tea, each priced at 14 yuan; 2 medium cups of Bubble Milk Tea, priced at 11 yuan and 11.11 yuan (discounted price) respectively. In addition, the expired pearls were added as free toppings to a total of 28 cups of various milk tea beverages. Upon calculation, the store's sales value of food beyond its shelf life was at least 752.15 yuan, with illegal gains of at least 512.9 yuan.

It was also found that the store failed to establish a food purchase inspection record system as required, did not record information such as food name, specification, quantity, production date or batch number, shelf life, purchase date, and supplier name, address, contact information, nor did it keep relevant vouchers, and was caught on the spot on February 22, 2022.

Consuming food and expired ingredients beyond their shelf life may pose safety hazards. Relevant regulations explicitly prohibit the production and sale of food made from food ingredients beyond their shelf life. However, similar news is commonplace, disregarding consumer health and crossing the legal red line.

The Yidian Yidian milk tea brand was founded in 1994 in Taiwan, China, originally named 50 Lan. After entering the Chinese mainland market in 2011, it quickly won the attention and affection of many consumers. But consumer favor has been met with food safety issues. On March 15, 2021, Southern Metropolis Daily reported that a consumer found a 1-centimeter-long bug in a milk tea purchased from the Yidian Yidian Fuzhou Dongbai Yuanhong City store.

The hot summer has arrived, and people's demand for beverages continues to rise, making it urgent to solve food safety issues.

Image source: Internet

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