Japanese fast food chain shuts nearly 2,000 locations after rat found in customer's soup
Japanese fast food chain shuts nearly 2,000 locations after rat found in customer's soup
The Japanese fast-food chain Sukiya is temporarily shutting down its nearly 2,000 locations after a rat was found in a soup dish earlier this year.
A rat was reportedly found in a bowl of miso soup in January but the company had not confirmed the instance until a statement Saturday referring to the situation as a "foreign object contamination" but not clarifying that it was a rodent.
The company also confirmed a pest was found inside a meal sold to a customer on Friday at a different location. The store manager directly apologized directly to the customer and refunded the meal. The store proceeded to close that day for extermination of any pests in the building on Monday and commenced an investigation into what caused the contamination, Sukiya said.
Sukiya said it is taking both situations as seriously as possible by closing every location to prevent internal infestation of pests and vermin.
The restaurants will remain close between Monday, March 31 to Friday, April 4 with the exception of some stores inside shopping malls, the company said.
"We would like to offer our deepest apologies to the customer who contacted us for the great pain and inconvenience caused. We would also like to apologize again for the great inconvenience and concern caused to our customers and related parties who regularly use Sukiya," the statement reads in Japanese.
What is Sukiya?
Sukiya is a major fast-food chain in Japan known for its Gyudon beef-on-rice bowls and curry.
A subsidiary to restaurant giant Zensho Holdings, the chain has a total of 1,970 restaurants across Japan and around 650 international locations in countries like Singapore, China and Mexico.
The chain also sells Miso soups, salads, tuna bowls and seat meal combinations known as Teishoku in Japanese.
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To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
