Popular Japanese restaurant chain Sukiya has issued a formal apology following a disturbing incident in which a rat was discovered in a bowl of miso soup at one of its outlets.
The incident occurred in January at a Sukiya location in Tottori Prefecture. According to a statement posted on the company’s official website, a customer alerted staff to the presence of a foreign object in their soup, which was later confirmed to be a rat. Fortunately, the soup had not yet been consumed.
The contamination is believed to have occurred during the preparation stage, as the rat is thought to have entered a bowl used to assemble the soup ingredients. Sukiya acknowledged that a staff member failed to perform a visual inspection before serving the dish.
In response to the incident, the affected restaurant was temporarily closed and underwent a full hygiene inspection. The company says that repairs were made to cracks in the building structure, which may have allowed pests to enter. Sukiya also consulted with local health authorities on the day of the discovery, and the outlet was allowed to reopen two days later after passing a sanitary inspection.
Further corrective actions include improved waste storage methods, particularly for food scraps, and increased pest prevention measures across all locations. Sukiya said it has also updated its employee hygiene training and instructed all branches to conduct thorough visual checks of food items before serving.
The chain, which operates approximately 2,000 outlets across Japan, emphasized that the contamination was an isolated incident and posed no risk to other customers. However, it reaffirmed its commitment to food safety and pledged to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
