“Yuanji Yun Dumplings” in Beijing recently faced a new development regarding the incident of finding earthworms in the food, as the store is now under investigation for the presence of foreign objects in the food.
On November 30th, Pengpai News reported in an article titled “A man in Beijing claimed to have found an earthworm while dining at Yuanji Yun Dumplings, with multiple people reporting similar encounters,” about a consumer, Mr. Jiao, who found a 3-centimeter-long black-purple earthworm in the wonton noodles at the Yuanji Yun Dumplings store in Liudaokou, Haidian District, Beijing.
Mr. Jiao explained that on November 19th, he spent 14 yuan purchasing a serving of pork wonton noodles at the implicated store. Towards the end of his meal, he discovered a 3-centimeter-long black-purple earthworm in his bowl. After informing the establishment, they only offered to refund the 14 yuan meal cost.
Photos provided by Mr. Jiao showed a black-purple foreign object resembling an earthworm in his meal. He mentioned that after leaving the store, he went back home to get his glasses and upon re-examining the photo of the unknown object, identified it as a black-purple earthworm. He returned to the store with his friends to negotiate compensation with the person in charge, but their request was rejected.
Following unsuccessful negotiations with the store for compensation, Mr. Jiao and his friends filed complaints with the Consumer Protection Committee and Yuanji Yun Dumplings customer complaint hotline. Yuanji Yun Dumplings claimed they would respond within 3 working days but never proposed any compensation plan thereafter.
Numerous attempts by the media to contact Yuanji’s official complaint hotline resulted in assurances from the staff that the customer service would follow up on the issue. On November 27th, Mr. Jiao reported that Yuanji agreed to compensate him with 500 yuan.
The incident escalated over several days, with the hashtag #Man finds earthworm in Yuanji Yun Dumplings, store willing to compensate 500# trending on December 1st.
Many netizens commented, with some questioning how the earthworm ended up in the wonton noodles. They expressed disgust, wondering if the vegetables were unwashed before being cooked, referring to the incident as “too disgusting.”
A search on mainland China’s relevant complaint platforms revealed multiple netizens finding foreign objects such as cockroaches, small stones, and plastic pieces in their meals at Yuanji Yun Dumplings.
Among them, a consumer posted on social media that on November 27th, after placing an order through a food delivery platform at Yuanji Yun Dumplings (Lijing International Store), they found a complete reddish-brown earthworm embedded in the lettuce.
In response to this, Wu Fenghu, a lawyer at Beijing Jing Shi (Shanghai) Law Firm, stated that if consumers encounter inappropriate foreign objects like earthworms at Yuanji Yun Dumplings or any other dining establishment, it not only affects their dining experience but also poses health risks. Operators should bear corresponding compensation responsibilities to consumers. According to relevant laws and regulations, consumers can demand compensation for losses and request ten times the price or three times the loss from producers or operators; if the increased compensation amount is less than 1000 yuan, it is set at 1000 yuan.
Recently, the latest results of food safety inspections released by the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Haidian District, Beijing, indicated that Beijing Fuxue Food and Beverage Management Development Co., Ltd., operating under the name “Yuanji Yun Dumplings,” had issues with foreign objects in the food, violating regulations and subsequently being investigated.
Further search revealed that the referred establishment, “Yuanji Yun Dumplings” in Liudaokou, was the one implicated in the report. The announcement also mentioned that Beijing Xin Xin Sheng Food and Beverage Store (Individual Business) and Beijing Xinran Food and Beverage Co., Ltd., both with the brand name “Yuanji Yun Dumplings,” had issues with inadequate implementation of the “two responsibilities,” resulting in warnings and orders to rectify the situation.
Public information on the Yuanji Yun Dumplings website showed that the Yuanji Food Group originated in Guangzhou, managing various brands such as “Yuanji Yun Dumplings,” “Yuan Lianghong,” and “Yuanji Weixiang.” According to public data, Yuanji Yun Dumplings currently operates in over 160 cities nationwide, with over 3500 franchised stores.
In September last year, Yuanji Yun Dumplings came under controversy for using a central kitchen distribution system, sparking widespread debates. The hashtag #Yuanji Yun Dumplings revealed to be using pre-made dishes# gained attention, with some netizens claiming that the dumpling skins and pork fillings used by the store were frozen products defrosted daily, with a shelf life of 2 months for the dumpling skins and 180 days for the pork filling.
Some consumers believed that Yuanji Yun Dumplings, which promotes itself as providing freshly made items, should not be using centrally distributed ingredients and accused the store of false advertising.