CNN
—
A preferred Japanese restaurant chain has closed practically all of its 2,000 shops for cleansing this week, after a rat and a bug had been present in its meals.
Sukiya, the nation’s largest chain serving gyudon, or beef bowls, introduced the non permanent closures following an insect contamination incident at one among its suburban Tokyo areas on Friday. This got here simply weeks after a rat was present in a bowl of miso soup in late January in an outlet in Tottori, western Japan.
Apologizing for the “nice inconvenience and concern precipitated,” Sukiya mentioned in a Saturday statement that the majority of its branches will shut from March 31 to April 4 to deal with contamination issues and pest infestations.
To calm rising anger over the meals security incidents, Sukiya took to X on Monday to supply its “deepest apologies” once more.
“We take this case severely and sincerely,” it mentioned. “We are going to do our utmost to keep up a secure and clear surroundings.”
Following the incidents, each affected areas quickly shut down to hold out extermination work and inspections.
Regardless of a picture of a rat in a bowl of miso soup circulating broadly on social media for weeks since January, Sukiya didn’t verify the incident till late March. In a separate statement on March 22, it mentioned it could “totally overview and implement additional measures to stop pest and rodent entry.”
The assertion attributed the mishap to an worker failing to take a look at the miso soup earlier than serving and mentioned no different prospects had been affected.
Following the newest contamination incident on Friday in Tokyo, Sukiya mentioned the affected buyer had obtained a refund. It’s conducting an on-site investigation to find out the trigger.
As of early 2024, Sukiya operates 1,957 shops domestically and has 675 international branches, together with in China, Taiwan, Thailand and Brazil, in accordance with its newest annual report. Yoshinoya, one other well-liked beef bowl chain with shops in Japan and overseas, is the second largest chain with 1,259 shops within the nation.
Zensho Holdings owns Sukiya, and runs a number of different Japanese and worldwide restaurant manufacturers.
