POLICE are probing a video appearing to show a worker urinating into a tank of ingredients at China’s biggest beer exporter.
Tsingtao called in cops and sealed off the batch of raw malt at its Qingdao brewery after the clip went viral on social media last week.
AsiaWireCops have launched an investigation after a man was filmed urinating into a tank of raw malt at a Tsingtao factory[/caption]
ReutersTsingtao is China’s second-largest brewer[/caption]
The stomach-churning footage showed a man wearing blue overalls and a yellow hat climbing into a container and urinating on the contents.
He could then be seen suspiciously looking left and right to check if the coast was clear.
Then, apparently oblivious to the security cameras, he unzipped and urinated all over the malt.
Finally, he checked again if anyone was watching and then zipped up as the footage ended.
The clip has since racked up tens of millions of views on China’s microblogging site Weibo.
“Now that he is being filmed and posted online, has he ever had this behaviour of urinating into raw ingredients before?” one Weibo user commented.
“The problem is how to assure the public that the existing beer raw materials are not contaminated,” wrote another.
“I’ve always said the beer here is like horse pee,” a third quipped, “turns out I was wrong.”
A local government task force has since carried out an investigation at the factory behind the 4.7 per cent strength lager.
The incident was blamed for causing company shares to tumble as much as 7.5% in early Monday trade, before recovering to close down 0.37%.
Tsingtao said in a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange that it “attaches great importance” to the incident and that the security authorities were currently investigating.
“The batch of malt in question is completely sealed,” they said, adding the company’s production and operation continued as normal.
Tsingtao, which is China’s second-largest brewer, insisted it will “continue to strengthen management procedures and ensure product quality”.
Local media reports that the mystery man probably worked for the trucking company delivering the malt – and they claim none of the contaminated grain made it through to the beer production line.
Tsingtao has not yet confirmed whether or not the person in the video was an employee.
Tsingtao Beer later said: “We promptly reported it to the police, and law enforcement is currently investigating.
“We are intensifying our management efforts to ensure product quality. We welcome consumers to supervise our processes.”
Both the man who appeared to urinate in the video and the person who filmed it have been detained by the police, reported the National Business Daily.
The outlet also said, citing an internal source familiar with the matter, that the duo were not direct employees of Tsingtao but rather external hires.
Lawyer Shao Ke later told local media that the incident almost certainly breached local health regulations.
Violations can lead to a simple warning or up to seven years behind bars for serious offences.
The Sun Online has approached Tsingtao for comment.