A video emerged of a worker appearing to urinate into a vat of raw materials at a major brewery in eastern China, according to multiple reports.
The man is seen climbing into the vat and then appearing to relieve himself against its inner wall, the video showed. The man then turns around and appears to zip up.
The incident occurred in the Tsingtao Brewery in Pingdu, Qingdao, and the video appeared online Thursday, Shenzhen Economic Daily said in a post accompanying the video on Weibo, China’s equivalent of X.
“[O]ur company attaches great importance to it and immediately reported to the public security organs, which have been involved in the investigation,” the brewery said in a statement on Friday. “At present, this batch of malt has been completely sealed. Our company continues to increase management efforts to ensure product quality, and welcomes consumer supervision.”
The Pingdu Municipal Market Supervision Bureau also released a statement Friday.
“After discovering the online video related to Tsingtao Brewery No. 3 on October 19, our bureau immediately set up an investigation team to enter the scene to investigate, and sealed up all the raw materials reflected in the video. Once verified, we will deal with it seriously in accordance with the law and regulations,” the bureau said. (RELATED: Prankster Lists Bottles Of Amazon Drivers’ Urine As Energy Drink, Documentary Claims)
Man Caught Urinating into Tank at Chinese Tsingtao Beer Warehouse.
This video was first shared on Chinese social media, which allegedly shows a man, in uniform, urinating into a tank where Tsingtao’s beer is apparently produced. The company has contacted authorities and is… pic.twitter.com/ej1klgk9uc
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) October 23, 2023
Tsingtao Brewery is China’s second-largest beer company and the world’s eleventh-largest. Its flagship Tsingtao Beer is the second most consumed beer globally.
“Personally, I feel that it is not normal … I suggest Tsingtao Beer check to see if it’s a deliberate crime.,” a Weibo user commented on the video.
“It’s obviously a smear campaign,” another user wrote.
Tens of millions of social media users have seen the video, the BBC reported.
Shares in the brewery fell sharply when the Shanghai Stock Exchange opened Monday morning but plateaued by the afternoon, per the BBC.