Toilet Water Coffee Served At Honk Kong Starbucks
In Hong Kong, Starbucks patrons are non too happy after finding out the coffee chain’s Central Hong Kong branch has used “toilet water” to brew coffee since it opened two years ago.
Hong Kong tabloid Apple Daily published images of the questionable practice along with a report stating that Starbucks staff use water from the public restroom in the building’s parking garage several times every day and use it to brew coffee.
Kataku writes:
The faucet that Starbucks used was only a few feet away from a urinal. There were concerns about hygiene, and Hong Kong’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department told Apple Daily that this Starbucks’ use of water was not within regulations. Since this discovery, the department has apparently issued a warning to the coffee chain’s Central Hong Kong restaurant.
And that’s not all!
HK Magazine pointed out. “If the staff need to frequently visit the toilet, they may increase the risk of bringing other pathogens from the washroom into their food and drink preparation area,” Cowling added.
Starbucks spokeswoman Wendy Pang confirmed that water used to brew coffee at Starbucks’ Bank of China Tower location did indeed come from the washroom, but she tsays the water is put through a filtration system in order to meet standards established by local authorities and the World Health Organization.
“There is no direct water supply to that particular store, that’s why we need to obtain the drinking water from the nearest source in the building,” Pang told AFP.
Still, customers have expressed their disgust.
“Totally disappointed! The initial decision by Starbucks to use water from toilet is a clear sign of your company’s vision and the level of (dis)respect your company has for the health and mind of your customers,” Kevin L wrote on the Starbucks Hong Kong Facebook wall.
“I’m now really worried when I purchase coffee from Starbucks. Who knows which other stores are using the similar practice! Scary!!” he wrote.
“I stick to my McCafe and the water is not from a toilet!” Cristiane Guimaraes commented on her Facebook wall.
Hong Kong University School of Public Health associate professor Benjamin Cowling said the issue is worrying.
“The issue that is more worrying is … the potential risk of transferring pathogens from the restroom environment into the Starbucks food preparation area,” Cowling warned.
“I wouldn’t go to the restaurant in the first place if I knew they were having potentially risky hygiene practices,” Cowling said.
The coffee shop, in the famous Bank of China Tower, has been using the water from a tap in a lavatory to make beverages since its opening in October 2011.
On The Web:
Starbucks Used ‘Toilet Water’ To Brew Coffee In Hong Kong: Report
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/30/starbucks-toilet-water-coffee-bathroom-hong-kong_n_3360341.html
Hong Kong Starbucks Used “Toilet Water” To Make Coffee
http://kotaku.com/hong-kong-starbucks-used-toilet-water-to-make-coffee-510430840
Public places serving food and drink must be punished for this act of domestic sabotage. When Milwaukee had that crypto problem public restaurants still served crypto water while the rest of the city had to buy bottled water. The law clearly excludes restaurants. Lawyers and business owners have no respect for any customer. They also have no religion. Why do we live in fear so much?
Well this is where Starbucks and me part our ways. I will never patronize them again. Even in our civilized world this is truely horrible. Shame, shame, shame.