Video: 'Live baby rat' found in Hong Kong takeaway noodles — restaurant charged
Hong Kong restaurant prosecuted after live baby rat reportedly found in takeaway meal
A $5.6 lunch turned horrifying as a Hong Kong diner discovered a newborn rat in satay noodles.
Food safety authorities have prosecuted a restaurant in Kwai Chung after a customer reportedly found a live newborn rodent "wriggling" in a takeaway meal, an incident that prompted an inspection and uncovered unsatisfactory hygiene conditions.
The meal was purchased from a restaurant located on the ground floor of a building on Wah Sing Street. The customer reportedly paid HK$44 (US$5.60), for a set meal containing satay beef rice noodles, a ham omelette and a drink, VN Express reported.
When the customer opened the takeaway container, she allegedly saw a hairless baby rat moving among the noodles and covered in satay sauce.
Chinese media, including the Shanghai Daily and SCMP, reported about the incident.
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She preserved the meal and reported the incident to Hong Kong’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, or FEHD, according to Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.
What happened next
FEHD officers seized the food for examination after receiving the complaint.
Inspectors found hygiene conditions in parts of the restaurant to be "unsatisfactory".
The restaurant operator was prosecuted under Hong Kong’s Food Business Regulation.
Authorities ordered the restaurant to make immediate improvements.
Investigators are examining how the animal may have entered the meal, including food preparation, packaging, storage and delivery.
Officials have not publicly said whether laboratory testing confirmed the species or identified the precise point of contamination.
Food licence
The restaurant reportedly held a valid food license and had not received formal complaints during the previous year, according to local reports.
The prosecution does not by itself establish how the alleged contamination occurred or whether the customer consumed any contaminated food.
The case has drawn widespread attention online after video of the meal circulated on social media.
It has also renewed concerns about pest control, food storage and hygiene oversight in takeaway operations, particularly restaurants operating in industrial-building districts where kitchens, storage areas and delivery activity may be concentrated.
Authorities are continuing the investigation. Any court outcome, fine, closure order or further enforcement action had not been announced in the reports available.
