Starbucks outlets inspected over food safety

Shanghai's market regulators have inspected some local outlets of Starbucks after two of the American coffee chain's stores in Wuxi, neighboring Jiangsu Province, were found to have been using expired ingredients in an undercover investigation by media.

No problems have yet been detected during inspections by officials of the Minhang District Administration for Market Regulation.

Irregularities, however, were found at 18 outlets of Starbucks in Suzhou by the Jiangu city's market regulators. These included irregular sales and purchase records, uncovered trash bins, improper storage of food ingredients and mixing of food and other items in storage.

Some employees were also found working without masks.

In total, 226 stores of Starbucks in Suzhou were inspected on Tuesday.

The Beijing News reported on Monday that staff at one of the Wuxi stores extended the expiration date of the black tea and matcha materials for an additional week.