火鍋里發(fā)現(xiàn)死老鼠，呷哺呷哺市值蒸發(fā)1.9億美元

HONG KONG — At hotpot restaurants in China, most of the ingredients are relatively inexpensive. Customers dip pieces of raw meat and vegetables into a big vat of simmering broth until everything cooks and bubbles to the surface.

香港——中國(guó)火鍋店的大多數(shù)食材都相對(duì)便宜。顧客們把生肉片和蔬菜放到一大盆沸騰的肉湯中，直到食材煮熟了浮起來(lái)。

For one Chinese restaurant chain, however, an item found by a customer at one of its outlets has proved to be particularly costly: a rat.

然而，對(duì)中國(guó)一家連鎖餐館來(lái)說(shuō)，顧客在其門店之一發(fā)現(xiàn)的一種材料——老鼠——已被證明代價(jià)極高。

A video of a small, dead rat — boiled, gelatinous and with its stunned arms outstretched — fished out of a vat of bubbling broth has shocked China, and sent shares of a popular restaurant chain plummeting.

一段從火鍋湯中夾出老鼠的視頻令國(guó)人震驚，也讓一家受歡迎的連鎖店的股票價(jià)格大跌。視頻中，已經(jīng)煮熟呈膠狀的老鼠四肢猙獰地伸展著。

The rat was found last week at a branch of the chain, Xiabu Xiabu, in Weifang, a city in the eastern province of Shandong. A local newspaper reported the incident on Friday and video footage of the customer picking the rat out with chopsticks circulated on Chinese social media all weekend.

這只老鼠是一名顧客上周在山東濰坊一家呷哺呷哺連鎖店里發(fā)現(xiàn)的。當(dāng)?shù)匾患覉?bào)紙上周五對(duì)此事進(jìn)行了報(bào)道，那名顧客用筷子夾出老鼠的視頻，整個(gè)周末都在中國(guó)社交媒體上瘋傳。

By the close of trading on Tuesday, shares in the chain’s parent company, Xiabuxiabu Catering Management, had fallen almost 12.5 percent, at one point dropping to their lowest in nearly a year. In all, the discovery of the rat had knocked about $190 million off the market value of the business, which is publicly traded in Hong Kong. The company’s shares recovered somewhat on Wednesday, gaining around 3 percent.

截至周二收盤，該連鎖店的母公司呷哺呷哺餐飲管理的股價(jià)下跌了近12.5%，并一度跌至近一年來(lái)的最低點(diǎn)。這只老鼠的發(fā)現(xiàn)，讓這家在香港上市公司的市值總共蒸發(fā)了約1.9億美元。該公司的股價(jià)周三略有回升，上漲了約3%。

The rat appeared when hotpot has been enjoying something of a moment in China. Traditionally eaten as a family meal in winter, hotpot is a national favorite, and chains selling it are growing in popularity. Xiabu Xiabu and one of its rivals, Haidilao, have reported surging sales and an expanding network of restaurants.

發(fā)現(xiàn)老鼠之時(shí)，火鍋在中國(guó)正在經(jīng)歷一個(gè)風(fēng)光的時(shí)期。傳統(tǒng)上，火鍋只是冬天時(shí)家人一起吃的東西，如今卻受到全國(guó)人民的喜愛(ài)，銷售火鍋的連鎖店越來(lái)越受歡迎。呷哺呷哺及其競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手海底撈都報(bào)出了大幅增長(zhǎng)的銷售額和不斷擴(kuò)大的門店網(wǎng)。

The cuisine’s setup is similar to fondue, with customers sitting round a table centered on a large vat of simmering broth, which adds flavor to the toppings, and can be concentrated to the point of being opaque.

火鍋的吃法類似于瑞士奶酪鍋，顧客們圍坐在桌子旁，桌子中間擺著一大盆沸騰的肉湯，肉湯給放進(jìn)去的食材增添味道，有時(shí)，湯可以濃到不透明的程度。

It was under such circumstances that the rat was dredged from swirling, red-hot broth.

老鼠就是在這種情況下，從滾燙的肉湯里撈出來(lái)的。

Xiabu Xiabu initially released a statement Saturday night saying that it had “ruled out the possibility that an unhygienic environment has caused the rat to appear,” but that statement was later deleted.

呷哺呷哺最初在周六晚發(fā)布的一份聲明中說(shuō)，“初步排除因菜品出餐操作不規(guī)范或餐廳污染造成老鼠進(jìn)入的可能”，但這份聲明后來(lái)被刪除了。

A company representative, Catherine Gao, later said that the chain was cooperating with the authorities.

公司代表凱瑟琳·高(Catherine Gao)后來(lái)說(shuō)，該連鎖店正在配合當(dāng)局進(jìn)行調(diào)查。

”We have set up a task force to carry out an in-depth investigation into this incident, and will also invite third-party authorities to help us clarify the truth,” she wrote in an email. Ms. Gao said the chain had always taken great care over the quality and safety of its food.

“我們成立了專項(xiàng)調(diào)查組，對(duì)此次事件進(jìn)行深入了解，也會(huì)藉由第三方權(quán)威機(jī)構(gòu)，協(xié)助我們厘清真相，”她在一封電子郵件中寫道。她說(shuō)呷哺呷哺一直非常重視食品的質(zhì)量與安全。

The market supervision bureau, an official watchdog organization, in Weifang has ordered the Xiabu Xiabu branch to suspend its services for “improvement.” In a statement published on Sunday on the Chinese messaging platform WeChat, the bureau said that while it found no traces of rats, the restaurant had committed violations related to stagnant water and buying food from unlicensed suppliers.

濰坊市的官方監(jiān)督機(jī)構(gòu)市場(chǎng)監(jiān)督管理局已下令這家呷哺呷哺分店暫停營(yíng)業(yè)，進(jìn)行“整改”。該管理局周日在中國(guó)信息平臺(tái)微信上發(fā)布的一份聲明中表示，雖然沒(méi)有在現(xiàn)場(chǎng)發(fā)現(xiàn)鼠跡，但該店存在地面有積水，從無(wú)證供應(yīng)商購(gòu)買食品等違規(guī)行為。

Though hotpot has gained in popularity in recent years, customers across China have complained about questionable hygiene standards at hotpot chains, particularly over restaurants reusing hotpot broth with new customers.

雖然近年來(lái)火鍋的受歡迎程度不斷上升，但中國(guó)各地的消費(fèi)者也抱怨了火鍋連鎖店衛(wèi)生標(biāo)準(zhǔn)欠缺的問(wèn)題，尤其是門店在新來(lái)食客的火鍋湯里使用剩鍋底的問(wèn)題。