Recently, in Shandong Boxing County, a beef hot pot restaurant mistakenly added fuel to the pot, resulting in 11 customers being hospitalized. Currently, the implicated store has suspended its operations.
On November 22nd, a netizen posted a video claiming that a service staff member at the “Xiao Xian Beef Hot Pot” in Boxing County added fuel to the bottom of the pot, leading to multiple hospitalizations, with three people still in the hospital.
On the morning of the 23rd, the aforementioned netizen told “Jimo News” that they were still at the county hospital, but did not disclose more details for now. The netizen had previously replied in the comments section: they firmly believed that there was no issue with the pot, as the duty manager had consumed 5 spoonfuls and later vomited, leading to hospitalization for observation. Another netizen mentioned, “The fuel and the pot bottom pot are the same” and “We have made mistakes before.”
The Boxing County Center for Disease Control responded to the media stating that indeed 11 individuals mistakenly ingested the fuel, underwent hospital examinations, with 4 individuals testing positive but not reaching a poisoned state. Currently, only one person, being from out of town and without local care in Boxing, is still hospitalized for observation and fluid replacement. Due to being a sudden public health incident, a multi-departmental investigative team has been formed.
On November 23rd, the joint investigative team reported that employees at the Xiao Xian Beef Hot Pot restaurant mistakenly added fuel to the pot bottom, causing individuals to exhibit symptoms such as nausea and vomiting after mistakenly consuming it, leading to hospital treatment and observation. At present, 8 individuals have been discharged, while 3 remain under observation with fluid replacement, and the implicated hot pot restaurant has been shut down for rectification.
This incident quickly rose to the top trending lists on Weibo, with netizens questioning, “Solid fuel is generally industrial alcohol (possibly containing methanol), absolutely inedible.” “The manager seemed very confident about their own hot pot, but unfortunately the service staff were too careless. Are the soup base pot and the fuel pot identical in appearance?”
“The fuel pot and the pot bottom pot look the same. This level of management… anyone who understands human nature would separate these two, because anyone can mix them up. No one can always have this on their mind. When things get busy, it’s easy to forget, they must be visually separated, even with labels and distinguishing locations. The manager failed to see this issue, and then believed it was safe by consuming the fuel themselves, resulting in hospitalization.”