Starbucks locations found to have used expired materials in products
Starbucks has closed two stores that are reported to have used outdated materials after an undercover report suggested that there might be hygiene issues at the coffee chain.
One of the Starbucks stores in Wuxi, located on Zhenze Road inside the Wuxi Software Park, was found to have violated food hygiene rules.
Two Starbucks stores in Wuxi, in neighboring Jiangsu Province, have been closed down. Starbucks said on Monday that it is carrying out a thorough investigation of the matter.
Raw materials with outdated or missing labels are seen at one of the Starbucks stores in Wuxi in neighboring Jiangsu Province.
The Beijing News report found that staff at the Wuxi store extended the expiration date of the black tea and matcha materials for one additional week.
One of the superiors at the Zhenze Road Starbucks store was found to have used a bottle of chocolate drink which was expired.
Two other kinds of beverage materials, including peach pulp and cream, were also out of date when they were found in the refrigerator inside the store.
Staff changed the expiration date of cocoa crunch material to one week later than the original date; from November 20 to November 27.
A similar scene was found at the Changxing Building Starbucks Store, where one superior asked an undercover staff member to continue to sell baked goods dated the day before, according to video footage shot in late November.
Matcha fluids that were outdated were used at one of the Starbucks stores in Wuxi.
Starbucks said it has zero tolerance toward food safety issues and welcomes the scrutiny from the public as well as the media.
