The incident came to light on June 20 after the student posted a picture of her pet gecko on a sauce plate at Sushiro. - Photo via The Straits Times/ANN
TAIPEI (The Straits Times/ANN): A university student in Taiwan has found herself in a sticky situation after snapping a photo of her pet gecko on a sushi plate.
The student, who has not been named by the Taiwanese media, took the photo at an outlet of popular sushi chain Sushiro and posted it on Instagram on June 20 with the caption “sushi fatty bun”, reported news channel ETtoday.
The photo quickly went viral on Taiwanese social media platform Dcard, and sparked hygiene concerns and criticism from netizens.
Taoyuan city’s Department of Public Health reacted to the incident by calling on food operators to implement control measures in line with its “good food hygiene” practices, reported Mirror Media.
This means that Sushiro may be fined more than NT$60,000 (S$2,500 - RM8,700) and suspended should it fail to comply with the regulations within a specific timeframe, according to the publication.
The Taiwanese management of Sushiro said in a Facebook post on June 24 that it was considering taking legal action against the student from Yuan Ze University in Taoyuan.
Sushiro said the student had brought her pet into the restaurant without informing its staff and engaged in “inappropriate dining behaviour”.
“We plan to take legal action against the loss of goodwill and other damage caused by the consumer’s personal behaviour. Action leads to accountability,” the statement read.
It added that all of its branches in Taiwan have since undergone additional cleaning and disinfection of tableware.
The student also faces punishment from her school.
Yuan Ze University said on June 24 that it will discipline the student according to its school rules and have her apologise, according to TYE News.
It said: “Yuan Ze University... attaches great importance to students’ moral education and health and safety education.
“If it receives news reports or complaints from the public, it will handle them prudently and in accordance with the principles of fairness and impartiality.”
In February, an Osaka man landed in prison for his unhygienic prank at a Yoshinoya outlet to amuse his online fans. He had eaten directly with his used chopsticks from a common-use container at the restaurant.
In 2023, a sushi restaurant chain sued a customer for 67 million yen (S$568,000), saying a viral online video of the teenager licking communal bottles and plates caused a drop in sales, foot traffic and the company’s shares.
The phenomenon, dubbed “sushi terrorism”, sparked a wave of copycat incidents shortly after the video, taken in Gifu city, quickly spread across social media platforms, including X, which was then known as Twitter. - The Straits Times/ANN
