Worker scoops oil from rubbish bin; eatery claims it’s for sale

-

A hotpot restaurant in China has gone viral amid allegations that it was cooking with used oil taken from a roadside rubbish bin.

On August 18, in Chongqing, southwestern China, a netizen posted a video showing a woman in her sixties, surnamed Zhang, apparently scooping used oil from a swill bin.

The footage showed the woman dressed in the uniform of a local hotpot restaurant. She was carrying a ladle and a plastic bucket.

When asked who had told her to collect the oil, the woman responded vaguely: "I just started working here."

The woman worker was filmed scooping the oil into a bowl from a roadside bin. Photo: Handout

The video quickly drew widespread public attention.

Her ambiguous reply immediately fuelled suspicions that the used oil might be recycled in the restaurant, prompting Xiao, the manager of the hotpot canteen, to issue a clarification.

Xiao confirmed that the woman was their employee and said she had only been in the job for a few days.

"She had only been there for a few days. The oil she collected was not for use in our restaurant, but she was gathering it to sell to a sanitation company that recycles waste oil," Xiao told Red Star News.

Later, Zhang issued a handwritten statement which read: "Regarding the video circulating online, I hereby declare that it was my personal action and has no connection to the hotpot restaurant. I scooped the oil for myself to sell."

After the video went viral online, the woman issued a written statement in which she said she was collecting the oil so that she could sell it. Photo: Handout

Officials from the Jiulong Subdistrict Market Supervision Office confirmed that the restaurant had sold its waste oil to a licensed sanitation company.

-ad

After witnessing this, Zhang reportedly began collecting the discarded oil, apparently intending to sell it to the same company.

"The employee in the video had only been at the restaurant for a week and received a total of 40 yuan (US$6) across two payments, which is supported by WeChat transfer records," said a market supervision official.

"No direct evidence has been found that the restaurant reused the collected oil for food preparation," the official added.

The incident, reported by Cover News, sparked an intense online debate.

"It appears to be an individual act by the employee. After all, if the shop had plans to reuse the oil, it would not have been dumped into a rubbish bin in the first place," one online observer said.

Source :

Editor: Crystal H

Advertisement

Most Popular

 

Lost diver survive 5 days underwater,lives on fish until rescued

Asian Nations Lead in Visa-Free Travel, Passport Power Shifts?

Courier puts sick daughter in delivery box while working as...

Press "wow"