High-speed train in Beijing. INQUIRER.net stock photo
Two passengers aboard a high-speed train in Beijing were served moldy rice, with one suffering from food poisoning, when all they wanted was to pass their hunger.
The men, surnamed Zhu and Xia, purchased ready meals on the evening of Sept. 8 while on the train to Wuhan city. As per the Hubei Daily via The South China Morning Post last Sept. 10, Zhu complained to the staff after he found his meal with “seriously moldy” rice.
It was reported that the passengers were given an apology and a refund by the chief conductor. They, too, were offered two meal packages as replacement for the moldy ones given to them, but these were rejected.
All was too late for Xia, who was already halfway into his meal when he noticed something was off with his rice. He immediately started vomiting and suffered from diarrhea.
Due to the incident, the China Railway Guangzhou Group took to its blog last Sept. 9 to report that they have stopped serving ready meals from the batch that contained the moldy rice. They, too, suspended supplies from their meal supplier, Shanghai Xincheng Food Company.
Meanwhile, Zhang Shunjun, spokesperson of Shanghai Xincheng Food, said in the report that they paid a visit to the China Railway group on Sept. 10 to take away their food products. “We are cooperating with the authorities’ investigation,” Zhang was quoted as saying.
Shanghai Xincheng Food has been supplying ready-made meals to rail companies since 2007. As per Zhang, their company uses Japanese technology in producing their meals so these can be stored for up to 90 days or 3 months.
“Our meal boxes are legal and meet food safety standards,” Zhang said in the report. “The only thing is that the public has a psychological barrier to accepting that a lunchbox has been kept for three months.”
As for the moldy rice, he surmised that it was probably due to damaged packaging. Cody Cepeda/NVG
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