What can a coffee quality institute learn from the recall?

Starbucks launched a maple butter chicken and egg sandwich in the US market on June 21. Soon after, customers and baristas reported diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain after eating it, with one person diagnosed with listeria infection after hospital treatment. On June 28, an internal notice ordered stores to stop selling and destroy the product. Starbucks later said online illness claims were untrue.

Reports included bone fragments in the sandwich and patties still icy inside after heating, pointing to problems during cooking, freezing, transportation, and reheating. The company gave no public explanation for the withdrawal. For coffee and food operators, the case underlines how quickly cold-chain and reheating failures can turn a food item into a health risk.

After Starbucks launched a maple butter chicken and egg sandwich in the United States, customers and employees alike began reporting symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain after eating it, with some even diagnosed with listeria infection. Yet Starbucks quietly pulled the product a week after the incidents began, offering no public explanation. After a TikTok video drew attention from millions of netizens, Starbucks responded on July 1 that online claims of illness were untrue, but did not explain why the product was withdrawn. This article will sort out the timeline of the incident and the reactions from all sides, explore the food safety hazards of fast food products during cooking, freezing, transportation, and reheating, and provide coffee lovers with related information from Front Street Coffee.

On June 21 local time, Starbucks launched a maple butter chicken and egg sandwich in the U.S. market. However, not long after the new product hit the shelves, customers and baristas began reporting on social platforms that they had experienced symptoms of suspected food poisoning such as diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain after eating it. Faced with these complaints, Starbucks did not take action right away.

It was not until a week later, on June 28 local time, as more and more employees and customers reported the same symptoms after eating and posted their experiences on social platforms, that Starbucks finally issued an emergency notice through its internal system, requiring all stores to immediately stop selling and discard the problematic product, and specifically stressing that it had to be destroyed and must not be donated or used for relief.

Starting from June 21, some netizens pointed out that they could taste bone fragments in the sandwich, while others said that when they received the heated product, the patty was still icy inside. Some even said that after eating Starbucks' new sandwich, they experienced the worst diarrhea of their lives—"I've been living in the bathroom for two days..." But these reports did not attract the attention of the Starbucks company.

It was not until June 22 that a netizen, who continued to experience diarrhea and vomiting after eating, went to the hospital for treatment. The hospital diagnosed that the diarrhea and vomiting were food poisoning caused by listeria infection from eating raw chicken, and the netizen immediately posted the matter online.

So on June 28, without any explanation, Starbucks issued a notice through its internal system to immediately stop selling the problematic product. Regarding the sudden withdrawal, a Starbucks barista was very confused and asked on TikTok why it was suddenly removed... Subsequently, netizens responded one after another that it was because many people got sick after eating the product, and some said that raw chicken bones could be found in it...

Starbucks had originally intended to quietly pull the product, but because of this short video, it attracted the attention and shares of millions of netizens within just a few days... As the news spread further and further, even other Starbucks food products began to be suspected of having the same problems.

Therefore, a relevant person in charge at Starbucks told local media on July 1: "All online information claiming that people got sick from eating this product is untrue. In Starbucks' testing after the recall of the problematic product, no disease-causing bacteria were found, and any reports that illness was caused by the discontinuation of the product are wrong." But the person in charge did not explain the specific reason for the product recall.

At the same time, Starbucks also stated that as of the time of the company's statement (July 1 local time), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had not received any complaint of physical discomfort after eating the recalled product, so the agency did not issue a recall notice. This removal was because consumers reported quality problems with the product, and out of caution, the company decided to handle it carefully and recall the product.

Brian Hitchcock, vice president of the Chicago Institute of Food Technologists, said in an email that Starbucks' move to quickly remove products that did not meet its standards after discovering quality problems was "commendable."

He pointed out that ensuring food is properly cooked, portioned, stored, delivered, and reheated under appropriate temperature conditions is key to food safety at every step. Starbucks also responded that the sandwiches are cooked, frozen, then transported, and finally heated until completely hot before serving, a process that can eliminate foodborne illness.

However, foreign netizens did not seem to buy this handling and response... Some netizens said that unless customers sue companies for this kind of unethical behavior, situations where customers pay to be guinea pigs will continue to happen.

Image source: Internet

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