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Topics: Food and Drink, World News
Jess Hardiman
A major chain has been forced to close its restaurants after a rat was found floating in a bowl of soup – an incident that was unfortunately far from isolated...
Japanese beef bowl restaurant chain Sukiya apologised after the rodent was discovered in a customer’s dish.
However, following fresh reports that part of a cockroach was mistakenly served in another meal, operator Sukiya Co. has now announced that it will temporarily close almost all of its outlets for a deep clean.
The rat was found in a bowl of miso soup at a branch in Tottori in January, with the chain confirming it was identified ‘before it was eaten’.
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“Measures were taken to address cracks in the building that could lead to contamination, and employees were given rigorous training on hygiene management, including visual inspection of products before serving,” Sukiya said in a translated statement.
“The health centre was also consulted on the day of the outbreak. The store resumed business two days after the outbreak after a health centre official inspected the site.”
It continued: “We would like to once again apologise to our customers and all concerned parties for the inconvenience and concern caused.
“We will strive to further strengthen our management systems in all stores nationwide to prevent a similar incident from occurring again in the future.”
Sukiya said it would be taking a number of steps to reduce the risks, including storing food waste in a refrigerated rubbish storeroom, and checking for holes and cracks in restaurant buildings every three months.
“We have also instructed stores nationwide to thoroughly visually inspect products before serving them in order to prevent contamination,” it added.
“Going forward, we will continue to conduct more thorough research and take measures against the intrusion of pests and vermin."
Fast forward to last Friday, when the company admitted a second incident had been reported when a dish was found to contain part of a cockroach.
As a result, it has now closed the majority of its 1,965 locations, saying they would remain shut until 4 April so that steps can be made to prevent further infestations.
"Yesterday, Friday, March 28th, it was discovered that a foreign object (pest) had been found in the product provided to a customer at Sukiya Akishima Ekiminami store," Sukita said in a press release over the weekend.
"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.
"A customer who used the store on Friday, March 28th called us to inform us that a foreign object (pest) had been found in the product.
"The store manager apologized directly to the customer, refunded the product price, and collected the actual product.
"In response to this situation, the store voluntarily suspended operations from around 5:00 p.m. on the same day."
It said a pest control company would carry out extermination work, while the chain conducts on-site investigations to 'identify the cause of the contamination'.
"We take very seriously the fact that this incident has occurred, despite the fact that foreign object contamination also occurred at another store in January 2025," the release said.
"Taking this situation seriously, Sukiya has decided to temporarily close all stores, except for some stores in shopping centers, from 9:00 a.m. on Monday, March 31st to 9:00 a.m. on Friday, April 4th, in order to take measures to prevent external intrusion and internal infestation of pests and vermin. We
deeply apologize to our customers and related parties for the great inconvenience and concern caused."
According to Reuters, shares for Zensho Holdings, which owns Sukiya, have fallen by as much as 7 percent in the wake of the issues.
LADbible Group has reached out to Zensho for comment.