Two branches of fast-food chain restaurant Yoshinoya in Chaoyang district which were involved in a food scandal reopened Sunday, after staff had been "rectified," according to Yoshinoya Beijing.
The two branches, one in Ginza Mall in Dongzhimen and another in Chongwenmen Waidajie, recycled old rice and served food on tableware that had not been disinfected, the Beijing Times reported Friday.
The manager of the Ginza Mall branch told the Global Times both restaurants were open. "We were closed Saturday and went through a rectification, now we are ready," he said.
According to Yoshinoya's rules, cooked rice should be thrown out after two hours if it has not been served, but at the Chongwenmen branch, staff simply stuck a new time label on it. Staff was also accused of drinking soup out of bowls they then gave to customers. At Ginza Mall, staff did not properly clean tableware, the Beijing Times reported.
Fu Jun, from Yoshinoya Beijing's media office, said the employees responsible for the failures have been transferred, although he did not say where.
"We are fully aware of this issue so Yoshinoya has sent senior management to examine all the branches in Beijing. And also to ensure this won't happen again. We required all our employees in restaurants to practice cooking and serving procedures and following food safety regulations," said Fu.
However, an anonymous Yoshinoya waitress in Sunshine 100 International Apartment, said they will use up all the rice regardless of when it was cooked.
"We won't use overnight rice but we also won't throw out today's rice," she said.
Some consumers said they are already used to such scandals. Song Lin, a 27-year-old financial consultant working in Dongzhimen, said she was disgusted upon hearing the news.
"Two hours won't turn cooked rice bad but giving used bowls and plates to customers is too much. I hope law enforcement can be tougher on these companies when conscience does not work," she said.
Yoshinoya Beijing is jointly owned by Yoshinoya Japan and Hong Kong-based Hop Hing Food Group.