Not what the customer ordered: Chinese hotpot chain suffers crash in stocks after rodent is found in soup
For many restaurant owners there is nothing worse than a bad food review.
Yet one Chinese hotpot outlet is proving that the consequences of a bad dish can be much more severe, after a dead rat in a pregnant customer’s soup has wiped $190m (£145m) off of the chain’s market value.
Stock in China’s fast food restaurant chain Xiabu Xiabu has plummeted to its lowest level in nearly a year this week, after photos of a boiled rat being fished out of a broth spread across Chinese social media.
The pregnant woman found the vermin in her hotpot after taken a few bites from the dish.
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According to local media, the woman has refused a 5,000 yuan (£550) compensation offer from the firm.
A man known as Mr Ma, who has been identified as the pregnant woman’s husband, said that one of the staff suggested his wife should get an abortion if she was worried about the baby's health.
On Tuesday, the company's share price hit its lowest level since October last year.
However, the hotpot restaurant's market value has been slowly recovering since yesterday.