The incident was revealed when a video clip from the event recently spread online. In the clip, a young man is seen standing on a table at one of the chain's restaurants in Shanghai and urinating into a boiling hotpot.
In social media, Chinese people are questioning the food handling and hygiene at Haidilao's restaurants. Now the chain is apologizing.
"Since the management did not have contingency plans or had trained the staff to handle this type of incident, our branch staff could not detect any deviations on site or maintain food safety in the dining environment," they write.
All guests who ate at the restaurant between February 24 and March 8 are now being offered full compensation for their meal – plus a lump sum of ten times the bill. This involves more than 4,100 orders.
Two 17-year-olds have been placed in "administrative detention" after the urination, according to the Shanghai police.
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