Latex finger probe provides no answers to alien object mystery
Heytea’s HKRI Taikoo Hui outlet continues to bubble over with customers yesterday, despite the scare.
The long queues often seen outside fabulously trendy Heytea’s stores may soon be a thing of the past following the discovery yesterday of something in a cup of tea that turned out to be a bit more chewy than a tapioca bubble.
Jing’an District Market Supervision and Management Bureau is investigating a claim by a customer of the milk tea chain that a latex finger cot was found in a cup of tea on Monday.
A customer posted photos on Weibo allegedly showing an item found in a drink ordered from Heytea’s HKRI Taikoo Hui outlet and delivered by Ele.me.
The angry customer who found the rubbery nasty said she had immediately been in touch with the store and was still waiting for a response.
Initial investigations conducted by both the market watchdog and Heytea found nothing abnormal.
The materials used in the drink were not expired nor was anything untoward found in the store, the bureau said.
Workers at the store wear transparent food preparation gloves, and nothing similar to the item shown in the photos was seen at the outlet.
Finger cots are most commonly used to protect the fingers against cuts, abrasions or blisters. They are not generally used in food processing.
Surveillance footage around the time of the order indicated nothing abnormal in either preparation or packaging.
A statement by Heytea said it had conducted checks and found nothing that could have led to the contamination, but could not monitor the delivery process by a third party.
The milk tea chain said it was willing to take the customer for a medical check-up and would cover all expenses.
It said its drinks were safe and all of its operations were open to customers’ inspection.
Ele.me said it had spoken with the worker who delivered the tea and found no finger glove on his person nor in the delivery vehicle. The worker appeared not to know the customer, it added.
The Heytea outlet opened last year, and sells more than 1,000 cups of milk and bubble tea every day.
“Heytea is really popular and I once queued almost an hour at its Raffles City outlet in People’s Square,” said Angela Zhang, a customer at the store.
“If the incident is confirmed, it is really disgusting and workers should be careful when making drinks,” she added.
Heytea has 18 stores in Shanghai.
