Human tooth found in meat-filled mooncake in China

A customer took to Douyin to share a video of the unexpected discovery of a tooth she said she had made while eating the mooncake. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM WHYYOUTOUZHELE/X via The Straits Times/Asia News Network

A woman in China was horrified after reportedly finding a human tooth inside a meat-filled mooncake she had bought from supermarket Sam’s Club in Changzhou, in eastern China’s Jiangsu.

The woman took to Chinese video-sharing platform Douyin on Sept 5 to share a video of the unexpected discovery she said she had made while eating the mooncake, which was purchased at 30 yuan (S$5.50).

In the video, a hand is seen holding what resembles a human molar, with meat filling lodged in it, on a piece of tissue paper over a half-eaten pastry.

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“My family ate this just now… Look at what they ate? It’s terrifying,” a voice can be heard saying.

The tooth, she said, did not belong to any of her family members. She swiftly reported the incident to the police, South China Morning Post reported on Sept 14.

One Douyin user commented that it was “repulsive” to find someone else’s tooth in a mooncake.

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On social media platform X, where the video was also shared, a user quipped: “It not only contains meat, but also provides calcium.”

According to a Yangtze Evening News report, Sam’s Club, a US supermarket chain, has launched an internal investigation.

Meanwhile, the mooncake’s manufacturer – which is not named – is adamant that such an incident is “impossible”, media outlet Hongxing News reported.

According to a spokesperson, surnamed Liu, all meat used in its products is thoroughly minced and checked with X-ray technology to detect bone fragments, making the presence of a human tooth seem highly unlikely.

Liu claimed that this type of issue had never occurred in more than a decade of production.

Surveillance footage from the manufacturer has been handed over to Sam’s Club and the local regulatory authorities.

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This is not the first time that Sam’s Club, a popular membership-only chain, has faced criticism for food safety lapses in China.

In 2022, a man from Fujian province broke his teeth after allegedly biting into Swiss rolls containing three artificial human teeth.

Although Sam’s Club promised an investigation, no conclusions were ever publicly released.

The same year, its outlet in Nanjing was fined 30,000 yuan for selling mouldy strawberries, while its supermarket in Shunyi district, Beijing, was fined 65,000 yuan for offering expired milk powder.

Sam’s Club, which entered China in 1996 and now operates at 49 locations, has been hit with more than 20 fines for food safety violations and false advertising.

Despite this, the chain boasts more than five million members, each paying at least 260 yuan annually for membership.