What the insecticide incident means for chain of coffee shops

A video showed a milk tea shop employee spraying insecticide directly on the counter, water dispenser and ingredient area without protecting food-contact surfaces. The poster reported it through the 12345 platform, the Shanghai Hongkou District Market Supervision Administration opened an investigation, the store was ordered to close, and the brand suspended the employee.

The case has renewed attention on pest control and food safety rules for food service operators, a concern that applies to chain of coffee shops as much as to tea brands. Spraying near ingredients or dispensing equipment can leave residue on surfaces, so operators are expected to follow label directions, protect food areas, and keep disinfection work away from preparation zones.

Recently, a video of a milk tea shop employee heavily spraying insecticide inside the store has sparked widespread attention. In the footage, the employee is seen holding an insecticide spray and directly spraying the counter, water dispenser, ingredient area, and other zones without taking any protective measures for food-contact surfaces, prompting many netizens and industry peers to cry out "suffocating." After the incident was exposed, the poster reported the situation to the 12345 platform. The Shanghai Hongkou District Market Supervision Administration has intervened in the investigation, the store involved has been ordered to close, and the brand has suspended the employee suspected of the violation. This incident has once again pushed the regulation of pest control operations and food safety issues in food service establishments into the public eye.

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Recently, the capricious weather and the breeding of mosquitoes, flies, and other pests have been giving many food service operators headaches. Some milk tea shop employees, after closing for the day, carry out disinfection and pest control in the store as required, in order to maintain a clean and hygienic environment inside.

However, a netizen recently came across a disturbing scene while scrolling through short videos. The video showed that after cleaning the preparation room, the store employee took a bottle of insecticide and continuously sprayed it at the storage area, ingredient counter, preparation countertop, water dispenser, and ordering area, while muttering things like "Bugs, I will destroy you."

From the employee's pest-control actions, driven by a "deep hatred" for flying insects and mosquitoes, one might sense the employee's dedication to maintaining hygiene in the preparation room. But in the eyes of that netizen, the employee's practice of spraying large amounts of insecticide in the video was instead worrying.

The poster pointed out that it was still unknown whether the insecticide held by the employee was suitable for food service establishments, and that during mosquito and insect pest control, the employee did not take any protective measures for areas directly in contact with food, such as the ingredient counter and water dispenser. Such heavy spraying could cause insecticide residue to remain on countertops and utensils, thereby contaminating the ingredients used to make drinks. Therefore, the poster questioned whether the store employee's pest-control operation was compliant.

In response, other netizens who had seen the video identified, based on clues in the footage, that the store involved belonged to a certain chain tea beverage brand, and felt confused and uneasy about the employee's non-compliant operation.

Some users familiar with the food service industry said that stores of chain brands usually cooperate with professional pest control companies, which regularly arrange for personnel to visit the store and use specially formulated disinfectants and insecticides to carry out fogging pest control on floors, preparation rooms, and corners prone to accumulating dirt.

Workers who had previously worked in tea beverage shops said that because products such as insecticides mostly contain toxic ingredients, they will inevitably spread through the air and remain on surfaces such as preparation room countertops and utensils. Therefore, professionals generally remind store employees to properly cover and protect utensils and ingredients that come into direct contact with food, so as to avoid chemical residues contaminating food and creating safety risks.

But in this video, the employee of the store involved did not take any protective measures and directly sprayed heavily at the bottles and jars on the counter and shelves, truly leaving industry peers stunned and exclaiming, "The footage is so suffocating."

The netizen who discovered the video immediately downloaded and saved it. According to their description, "Not long after, the employee involved deleted the relevant video and set the account to private." The poster then reported the video to the 12345 online platform and contacted the platform to provide feedback on the store employee's non-compliant operation.

At present, the poster said that the Shanghai Hongkou District Market Supervision Administration has intervened in the investigation, taken closure measures against the store involved, and completed the fixing of the evidence chain. Nearby residents later said that the store involved had been closed for several days, and the official mini-program also showed that the store was temporarily closed.

The brand also responded after receiving the netizen's complaint: "The supervision department has received the report about the store. We have set up a special team for further investigation, and during the investigation, the suspected employee has been suspended."

Images and videos from: Xiaohongshu

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