
Popular Japanese beef bowl chain shuts after rat, bug found in food
CNN
A popular Japanese restaurant chain has closed nearly all of its 2,000 stores for cleaning this week, after a rat and a bug were found in its food.
A popular Japanese restaurant chain has closed nearly all of its 2,000 stores for cleaning this week, after a rat and a bug were found in its food. Sukiya, the country’s largest chain serving gyudon, or beef bowls, announced the temporary closures following an insect contamination incident at one of its suburban Tokyo locations on Friday. This came just weeks after a rat was found in a bowl of miso soup in late January in an outlet in Tottori, western Japan. Apologizing for the “great inconvenience and concern caused,” Sukiya said in a Saturday statement that most of its branches will shut from March 31 to April 4 to address contamination problems and pest infestations. To calm growing anger over the food safety incidents, Sukiya took to X on Monday to offer its “deepest apologies” again. “We take this situation seriously and sincerely,” it said. “We will do our utmost to maintain a safe and clean environment.” Following the incidents, both affected locations temporarily shut down to carry out extermination work and inspections.