Xiabu Xiabu chain loses £145m after dead rat found in pregnant women’s soup
Chinese restaurant chain Xiabu Xiabu has lost £145m in market value since a pregnant woman found a rat in her soup at a branch in Weifang, China.
After video footage of the woman fishing the dead rat out of her soup went viral, the Weifang restaurant was temporarily shut down pending inspection. Shares in the chain dropped by 12% following the incident, reaching their lowest level since last October.
This pregnant woman in #China found a dead rat in her hotpot soup pic.twitter.com/n6Z8hmgebL
— South China Morning Post (@SCMPNews) September 10, 2018
Advertisement
Following an inspection the chain said it had found no trace of rats, however inspectors found that some suppliers to the chain’s restaurants did not have proper health and safety certification. A statement was released on Saturday claiming the restaurant had “ruled out” the possibility that poor hygiene could have caused the problem however the post was quickly deleted.
The woman’s husband claimed to Shanghai-based Kankan News that the restaurant told the couple “if you are worried about the baby, then we’ll give you 20,000 yuan to abort it”.
