BEIJING: US supermarket chain Sam’s Club is under investigation after a customer found a human tooth in a mooncake purchased from a mainland branch.
A woman shared a Douyin video showing the tooth in a 30-yuan (US$4) meat-filled mooncake bought in Changzhou in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, as reported by Star Video on September 5.
The woman said the tooth did not belong to any of her family members, and that she had reported the incident to the police.
A staff member at Sam’s Club in Changzhou said the company was investigating the case.
The mooncake manufacturers told Hongxing News that it is “impossible to have a tooth mixed in the meat filling.”
A spokesperson, identified by the surname Liu, explained that all meat undergoes mincing and is checked by an X-ray machine capable of detecting bone fragments.
Liu further mentioned that such incidents have not occurred in over a decade.
The manufacturer has since provided surveillance footage to Sam’s Club and the Changzhou market regulatory department for review.
The relevant government department said it was also investigating the case.
This is not the first instance of food safety issues at Sam’s Club’s mainland stores.
In 2022, a woman from southeastern China’s Fujian province reported her uncle finding three artificial human teeth in Swiss rolls purchased from the chain, resulting in him breaking his teeth upon biting into them.
Although the store stated it would investigate, no results were ever shared.
Additionally, in 2022, Sam’s Club in Nanjing faced a fine of 30,000 yuan (US$4,200) for selling mouldy strawberries, and its Beijing Shunyi location was fined 65,000 yuan (US$9,000) for offering expired milk powder.
The brand has 49 branches across the mainland. Customers must buy a membership card for a minimum price of 260 yuan (US$36) a year. It had more than 5 million members last year, according to The Paper.
Sam’s Club, which entered China in 1996, was fined more than 20 times for false advertising and food safety issues in recent years.
“It’s so disgusting to find other people’s teeth in food,” someone on Douyin said.
Another suggested the customer checks again to see if a family member has indeed lost part of a tooth without realising: “It sometimes does not hurt at all when part of the tooth falls off, so they might not know they’ve lost it.” - South China Morning Post
