Beijing Tea Shop Uses Rotten Fruit to Make Juice

So you’ve decided to take the healthier route, avoid bubble tea and get on the fruit juice train. Rarely do you think about what’s going on behind the scenes while you’re waiting for that sweet, refreshing beverage but perhaps now you’ll have to think twice. 

Last week, Beijing TV’s The Moment of Life sent an undercover reporter to investigate a store of a popular tea shop chain, Tea Land (Ganchadu) in Jiaomen, and discovered multiple disturbing practices. Employees who had just taken out the trash would return to work without washing their hands, rotten flesh of mangos and bananas were mixed in with ripe fruit and overnight tea was resold to customers. Yikes!

Screengrab via @BTV The Moment of Life/Weibo

When the undercover reporter – who was working as an employee at the establishment – asked the store manager whether to use rotten mangos, the store manager took out a relatively fresh mango and asked him to blend equal ratios of good to rotten mangos. As he tried to rinse the cutting board – drenched in rotten juice – he was instead told by the manager to pour the drippings into a cup to be sold to customers. 

Screengrab via @BTV The Moment of Life/Weibo

After the video was posted on Weibo, the store was lambasted online. Some netizens applauded the courageous reporter and many agreed that they did not want to drink smoothies anymore after the incident. 

Subsequently, four of Ganchadu’s stores were inspected on-site by the Beijing Fengtai Safety Supervision Bureau. It was concluded that the stores had used spoiled fruits for consumption, failed to provide disinfection records for juicers and failed to label expiration dates for perishable ingredients properly. As a result, the stores were ordered to halt all online and offline business immediately. 

Tea Land has addressed the issue on their website and Weibo account, writing:

“We are deeply upset and responsible... all of the staff are unforgivable! The company will bear all legal responsibility and administrative penalties!”

[Cover image: screengrab via @甘茶度/Weibo]