"Paper Scraps" and "Twigs" Found in Chabaidao Milk Tea?? Shop Explains Those Are Sweet Potato Roots from Taro Ingredients!

ChaBaiDao has had a busy few days. First, netizens reported finding a nail clipper in their drink; then employees at a franchise store fought with a delivery driver; then another netizen found "paper scraps" and "tree branches" in their taro milk tea. Just four days into the new year, ChaBaiDao had already made the short video platform's trending list twice — quite an achievement.

Incident Details

On January 2nd, a netizen reported ordering two cups of taro milk tea through a delivery platform. While drinking, they noticed a gritty texture in the tea, so they examined the impurities. Some appeared to be paper-like fibrous substances, while others resembled small tree branches. After discovering this, the customer photographed the findings and reported them to the store.

From the photos the netizen provided, the impurities in the milk tea included soaked white fibrous materials and some black, thin, strip-like objects.

Store Response and Explanation

After receiving the feedback, the store immediately processed a refund. The store claimed that the impurities resembling small tree branches were actually sweet potato roots. The taro paste used in the milk tea does not consist solely of taro — it also includes sweet potatoes to enhance the texture and sweetness of the paste.

The taro paste and taro balls used in the store are wholesale semi-finished products, so the appearance of sweet potato roots largely stems from issues at the processing plant. After the customer reported the problem, the store contacted its superiors, who in turn reached out to the processing plant. The store stated that the processing plant had already resolved the issue, that this was a normal occurrence, and that it complied with food safety regulations.

Unresolved Questions

However, the store's explanation only addressed the black, thin, strip-like objects as sweet potato roots, without explaining the white fibrous substances. These could be large plant fibers that fell during the processing plant's manufacturing, or they could be paper scraps that fell during drink preparation at the shop. Since the customer experienced no discomfort after consumption, they decided not to pursue the matter further with the milk tea shop.

The Customer's Intentions

As for why this was exposed, the netizen likely wanted to express that while there were foreign objects in the milk tea, it was not necessarily entirely the shop's fault — it could be an issue with ingredient processing. They hope that while milk tea shops maintain proper internal hygiene and supervise drink preparation, they also implement random inspections and record-keeping for wholesale ingredients, providing greater safety assurance for both consumers and themselves.

Image source: Internet

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