What does coffee contain, and why did a sandwich complaint go viral?

A Starbucks customer found several yellow raised bumps on the beef slices in a sandwich ordered through a third-party delivery platform. She reported the issue to the store and filed a complaint via the 12345 hotline. Starbucks said the product had no quality problem and declined a refund. Regulatory inspectors later found the store's qualifications and hygiene conditions compliant, and the platform refunded the order amount.

The case drew wide attention online, with many commenters admitting they rarely inspect sandwich fillings. It has little to do with what does coffee contain, yet it matters for coffee shops that sell food alongside drinks, since ingredient quality and handling standards shape customer trust. No definitive conclusion has been reached on whether the yellow granules are normal on cooked beef.

A Starbucks customer discovered multiple yellow raised bumps, suspected to be pustules, on the surface of the beef slices in a sandwich she ordered through a third-party platform, leaving her shocked and concerned about food safety. She immediately contacted the store to demand an explanation and a refund, and filed a complaint with 12345. Starbucks responded that the product had no quality issues and refused a refund or compensation; after inspection by regulatory authorities, the store's qualifications and hygiene conditions were found to be compliant. Ultimately, because the order came from a third-party platform, the platform refunded the order amount. The incident sparked widespread discussion on social media, with many netizens saying they never inspect the ingredients when eating sandwiches and expressing doubts about the safety of meat products. So, is it actually normal for yellow granules to appear on the surface of cooked beef? Currently, opinions online vary, and there is no definitive conclusion.

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For many office workers, pairing a cup of coffee with a sandwich for a meal is an all-too-common choice. Recently, a Starbucks customer, as usual, ordered a Starbucks sandwich through a third-party delivery platform, choosing the same one she often eats. But after just a few bites, she noticed that the meat slice inside was different from before.

She took the meat slice out separately and saw several yellow raised bumps distributed across its flat surface, resembling pustules in appearance. The customer admitted that facing these yellow lumps of unknown origin, she was both surprised and frightened, worried about potential food safety hazards, and did not dare continue eating.

Afterward, she contacted the Starbucks store through the third-party platform, demanding a reasonable explanation for the situation and a refund. At the same time, she also called the 12345 hotline to file a complaint against the store involved.

According to the blogger, by the fourth day after the matter escalated, Starbucks called to apologize to her, but explained that the beef slice had no quality issues, so there would be no refund or compensation. After receiving the complaint, 12345 arranged for staff to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the store's qualifications and hygiene conditions, and the results showed complete licenses, standardized operations, and no abnormalities found.

However, because the blogger placed the order on a third-party platform, the platform, after receiving the complaint and verifying the relevant circumstances, had already refunded the order amount to her.

After the blogger posted this matter on social media, it quickly sparked public attention and discussion about food safety issues.

Many consumers admit that when buying light meals such as sandwiches, they usually do not pay attention to what ingredients are inside, and basically just pick them up and eat. Precisely because of this, when they saw that alarming slice of meat, they could not help but feel a lingering fear, worrying whether other meat-containing products might also have similar problems.

"Just thinking that this might be something I ate without hesitation makes me shudder," "I never open a sandwich to look inside," "Oh my god, I never lift it open," "I especially love ordering this, and every time I just eat it directly, never opening it to look, I'm cracked."

On the other hand, reports on social media about yellow lumps appearing on the surface of raw beef after cooking are not uncommon. Previously, some netizens discovered that after steaming fresh beef they had bought, yellow granules of varying amounts appeared on the surface.

As for whether these yellow substances are actually harmful, opinions online currently differ. One explanation is that after raw beef is cooked, the blood vessels contract and protrude, which is why yellow granular matter appears on the surface of the cooked meat. This is considered a normal phenomenon and safe to eat.

Others believe that the reason fresh beef develops yellow lumps is that the meat has been injected with gelatinous substances, and eating this kind of "processed" beef may carry certain risks. There are also claims such as "there are parasites in the raw meat," "mold has grown," and "pustules form at the injection site on the beef," but none of these have been confirmed and are merely guesses by netizens.

From this perspective, although the sandwich the blogger bought contained a slice of beef suspected to have problems, without professional testing it is difficult to determine that this slice of meat poses a food safety issue, nor is it possible to determine whether eating it would harm the human body. Of course, if consumers feel uneasy about it, they can also choose not to eat it.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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