After many days of facing a wave of controversy and disruptive information on social networks, on May 29, Long Chat restaurant officially announced the suspension of its facility in Ho Chi Minh City.
According to Lao Dong's records at the Ho Chi Minh City facility, the restaurant is currently closed. On the signboard is a notice "for rent". In addition, a thank you and apology letter was posted in front of the restaurant, sent to customers and partners.
According to Mr. Ngo Quyen The - the restaurant representative, the decision to stop operations came from financial pressure that could not be borne after being attacked by the online community.
"Because there was not enough money to maintain costs, customers were confused, and the work for the staff was declining, so the restaurant made a difficult decision and suffered great losses to stop selling," he shared.
Previously, Long Chat restaurant attracted attention with a video introducing a "cigarette" - a 40m long, nearly 6kg section of a mountain pass.
However, the video quickly created many mixed public streams. Many opinions are skeptical about the authenticity, even saying that the dish may have been chemically treated. This information has caused the restaurant to fall into a media crisis.
Since May 22, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety has planned to inspect establishments selling cigarette butts in the area.
Previously, on May 22, Ms. Pham Khanh Phong Lan - Director of the Department of Food Safety of Ho Chi Minh City said that the Department had organized an inspection team division and made a list of establishments promoting cigarette butts for simultaneous inspection. Long Chat Quan is inspected by Team 6 in charge of Tan Binh area.
At the time of inspection, Long Chat restaurant announced that the cigarette butts were out of stock, so the authorities could not collect samples for testing. Some other inspected establishments later gave similar reasons.
In addition, regarding the origin of the product, the restaurant representative confirmed that it imported goods from the stall selling fresh pork intestines at Hoc Mon market, did not work with the frozen supplier or was related to the goods from China as some speculation.
In particular, the two facilities in Hanoi - Ton That Tung (Dong Da) and Tran Thai Tong (Cau Giay) - are still operating normally, according to Lao Dong's research. According to information on May 24, the restaurant still has cigarette butts.
The restaurant representative confirmed that at Tran Thai Tong's facility, during the first inspection, the restaurant was booked due to "lack of customers so there were no items".
At the second surprise inspection, the restaurant had all the dishes, including the intestines of the cigarette truck.
"After inspection, the ingredients showed no signs of abnormal color or strange smell. The ingredients have enough invoices (vedices) of purchase origin. The group has drawn up an inspection report, the restaurant has not violated the regulations," the restaurant owner informed.
