2 Wuxi Starbucks stores fined heavily over food safety violations

Two outlets of Starbucks in Wuxi, neighboring Jiangsu Province, have been hit with hefty fines by the local market regulator for using expired ingredients, which was exposed in an undercover investigation by media.

The two stores of the American coffee chain giant on Zhenze Road and inside the Changxing Building were fined about 690,000 yuan (US$108,468) and 670,000 yuan, respectively, with illegal gains confiscated, by the Xinwu District Administration for Market Regulation in Wuxi.

They were found using outdated materials by fabricating, changing and tearing up labels indicating the expiry date of food ingredients and had hygiene problems such as failing to separate towels used to wipe food, according to the administration. Such towels should be used exclusively on food.

Both of the two stores are belonged to the Shanghai Starbucks Coffee Co.

A Beijing News report in December found that staff at one of the Wuxi stores extended the expiry date of the black tea and matcha materials for an additional week.

One of the superiors at the Zhenze Road Starbucks outlet was found to have used a bottle of chocolate drink, which was past its sell-by date.

Two other kinds of beverage materials, namely peach pulp and cream, were also out of date when they were found in the refrigerator inside the store.

A similar scenario was repeated 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.

Starbucks shut down the two stores shortly afterwards, saying that it has zero tolerance toward food safety issues and welcomes scrutiny from the public as well as the media.