Recently, the “Ma Liu Ji” brand sour and spicy noodles, personally managed by Wang Xiaofei, the second-generation in the Chinese catering industry, have been exposed to be moldy and have a strong odor. Currently, Costco stores in many parts of mainland China have removed the product from their shelves.
“Ma Liu Ji” mainly features sour and spicy noodles. According to a report by the Southern Metropolis Daily, Ms. Chen (pseudonym) in Shenzhen purchased a box of Ma Liu Ji sour and spicy noodles at a Shenzhen Costco store on July 22, which contained 8 boxes and was priced at 65.9 yuan (RMB).
Ms. Chen stated that on July 25, when she cooked a box of sour and spicy noodles, she found that not only were the noodles moldy, but there was also a strong foul smell. She reported the situation to the Shenzhen Costco store, and the offline store processed the return.
The product pictures provided by Ms. Chen showed that the production date of the product was June 16th of this year, with suspected mold on the surface of the sour and spicy noodles.
Ms. Wang (pseudonym) from Ningbo also bought problematic sour and spicy noodles with the production date also being June 16th of this year, and there were suspected mold spots on the surface of the noodles.
Ms. Wang stated that after she reported this issue, the online store refunded her 49.9 yuan without further compensation, “But I said there is a food safety issue because after smelling it up close a few times, my throat hurt. I realized it was mold and urgently went to wash my hands and rinse my mouth, but even now, after five hours, my throat still feels scratchy.”
Additionally, consumers in Shanghai and other places have also successively posted complaints on social media platforms, claiming to have bought moldy Ma Liu Ji sour and spicy noodles at Costco.
In response, customer service representatives from stores in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and six other locations mentioned that all Ma Liu Ji sour and spicy noodles have been removed from the shelves. Currently, Ma Liu Ji’s related products cannot be found on the Costco App.
On July 25, the person in charge of Costco explained, “During a recent routine inspection of product quality, it was found that the product had quality fluctuations. Out of the requirements for product quality control, the sales of this product have been temporarily suspended,” and there is currently no clear timeline for reinstating the product.
The OEM factory of Ma Liu Ji, “Baijia A Kuan,” released a statement on the 27th, stating that “there were deficiencies in the sterilization process during the production, which may have led to some products being contaminated by environmental bacteria.” Currently, two batches of products have been removed, and the factory will strengthen internal management in the future, and apologize to consumers and the Ma Liu Ji brand.
Found in 2020, Ma Liu Ji Group has three main affiliated companies, namely Beijing Ma Liu Ji Catering Management Co., Shitongda Company, and Chengdu Ma Jiu Ji Catering Management Co. Shitongda Company is responsible for the operation of the fast-food sector, including the operation of food business such as sour and spicy noodles, with Wang Xiaofei serving as the chairman of Shitongda Company. Currently, Wang Xiaofei has not yet responded to this matter.