March 16, major supermarkets in Haikou pull Laotan sauerkraut instant noodles from the shelves.
Spokespersons for RT-Mart Supermarket and Carrefour Supermarket said that Master Kong’s Laotan sauerkraut instant noodles have been removed from the shelves, as well as all related Laotan sauerkraut products.
An investigation into the company revealed that the Laotan sauerkraut was prepared by digging an “earth pit” to prepare the product.
Staff can be seen wearing shoes or walking bare foot as they were bagging, while some workers even threw cigarette butts on the sauerkraut.
While some Supermarkets such as RT-Mart, Wangjiawang, and Carrefour have removed all related products, smaller family and hole in the wall shops have been slower to respond.
As of 19:00 on the 16th, Haikou had removed 1,445 boxes, 3,613 bags, and 2,253 pots of Laotan sauerkraut instant noodles as well as 110 bags of related products in the vegetable category.
A search for “Laotan sauerkraut” on major e-commerce platforms and takeaway platforms such as Taobao, JD.com, Meituan, Ele.me, and even Pinduoduo return no results for these keywords. However, if you search for other keywords such as “sauerkraut beef noodles”, Laotan sauerkraut products still appear.
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