Food safety rules and what are coffee shops allowed to do

During the 'First Cup of Milk Tea of Autumn' order surge, a JD delivery rider was filmed inside the bar area of a Chagee store helping staff lid and pack finished drinks. Some social media users praised the gesture as goodwill during an overwhelming rush, while others questioned whether a non-employee belongs in a food preparation zone at all.

The video revived arguments about bar access permissions, health certificate requirements and store management systems. Orders at many chain tea and coffee outlets topped a thousand cups in a short window, leaving staff unable to keep pace. The case raises the same questions for what are coffee shops permitted to do when a delivery rider crosses into the prep area.

Yesterday, the topic "The First Cup of Milk Tea of Autumn" sparked widespread attention on social media, causing order volumes at chain tea beverage brand stores to surge, with some stores exceeding a thousand cups sold in a short period. Under the pressure of the order explosion, at a Chagee store, a JD delivery rider was seen entering the bar area to assist with packing. After the video circulated, it triggered polarized discussions among netizens. Some praised the rider's goodwill in voluntarily helping, while others questioned whether non-store employees entering the operating area complies with food safety regulations. Around bar operation permissions, health certificate requirements, and store management systems, opinions from all sides clashed, and the incident quickly became a hot topic.

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Yesterday, the topic "The First Cup of Milk Tea of Autumn" was frequently shared across major social media platforms. Driven by this trend, order volumes at chain tea and coffee brand stores nationwide continued to climb, with many stores surpassing the thousand-cup sales figure in a very short time.

From the on-site footage of milk tea shops posted by netizens, the bars of stores from multiple brands were covered with finished drinks, receipt printers endlessly spitting out orders and labels, ice machines and tea brewing machines running continuously to the point of almost smoking, and the arms of staff shaking shaker cups almost blurring with speed.

But even with all store employees fully deployed, the speed of order fulfillment still could not keep up with the pace of riders and customers picking up drinks. Some impatient people began loudly urging, and even argued or had physical altercations with store staff, plunging the store into chaos for a time.

However, at a Chagee store, a JD delivery rider was captured on camera appearing inside the bar area, assisting busy staff in packing finished milk teas. In the video, the rider in JD uniform placed lids on packing cups, checked them, and set them on the pickup counter, with the entire motion looking quite practiced.

Netizens who watched the video speculated that the store must have been overwhelmed with orders yesterday, staff truly could not keep up, and the rider waiting outside the bar could not stand by, so out of necessity stepped in to lend a hand. Some observant netizens also noticed that this delivery worker helping out, like other store employees, wore a transparent mask and hairnet to prevent foreign objects from falling in.

In response, many praised the delivery rider for being knowledgeable and highly approved of his proactive help during a special period. But some consumers held different views on non-store staff entering the bar area. They pointed out that to work inside a tea shop bar, besides wearing masks, hairnets, aprons and other equipment, store employees also need health certificates and vocational training to participate in drink preparation.

Although according to platform regulations for delivery riders on duty, this JD rider should hold a health certificate and also wore a mask and hairnet as required by the store during work, some netizens believed that the delivery rider had not received specialized training, and rashly entering the bar and directly handling things might cross the red line of store management rules, moreover it would also be difficult to ensure all the rider's operations meet production hygiene standards.

"Isn't this a food safety red line?", "Not about whether it's hygienic or not, but crossing the red line might get the store fined in online audits", "Did he wash his hands?", "How can outsiders also go in and handle things? If a store inspector sees this, won't there be a deduction?", "Isn't going in a violation?"

Facing netizens' concerns, milk tea workers who appeared in the comments said that yesterday orders piled up massively at various stores, and riders willing to understand each other and proactively do what they could was timely help for them. But some also pointed out that if it was just bagging drinks and sticking on order labels, it would be fine. However, entering the bar to touch machines and equipment, unsealed drinks, etc., might violate store rules and instead cause trouble for staff.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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