Extra Protein In Miso Soup

 I came across an article the other day about a very popular chain restaurant in Japan. This restaurant has over 2000 stores throughout Japan.  The main dish is gyudon, beef cooked in a mildly sweet sauce, flavored by soy sauce and mirin (Japanese sweet sake), served over a bowl of rice. It's a simple dish that is very comforting! 

gyudon and miso soup, I think this is from Hannah's university cafe.

The article was about an incident that happened in January. Apparently, a customer ordered a breakfast set that included miso soup. When the meal arrived, the customer noticed a dead mouse in the soup. Not exactly the best way to start the day.  The customer altered the staff and posted a negative comment on the store's web page. The customer also informed the headquarters of the company and the city's health department!

The company removed the negative comment and didn't say anything about the incident until now! The company apologized and said that the store was closed for a few days to check for cracks where mice might come in! The staff were told to check for unwanted things in the food!  

The image that many people have of Japan is one of a very clean country. Which is true in many ways, there is litter in the streets but not to the extent I've seen in England. Where we live, there is a small problem of people throwing trash on the fields, but not too bad. 

But hygiene in Japan is another thing altogether, at least in my experience.

The incident with the mouse in the miso soup is disgusting, but one factor that was offered as a reason is staff shortages in those types of restaurants; in some places, one staff member is doing the job of two or three people, therefore, rushing to get things done and not noticing things!

One of the worst incidents I've experienced was not in food service but in health care. 

One dentist that I used was short-staffed. There was no receptionist, so when you went in, you called out hello, and the doctor or nurse would acknowledge you. After you were in the chair they would ask your name and get your file. Because of this system, the door between the waiting room and the treatment room was open.  As usual in Japan, the dental chairs were lined up,  with no privacy. At the end of the waiting room was a toilet stall, and the sink was outside. One time when I was waiting, the dental nurse excused herself to the patient she was working on. Went to the toilet, with her latex gloves on, rinsed her hands in cold water, still wearing her gloves, shook off the excess water and went back to the patient, putting her fingers in his mouth. I walked out! I was so disgusted. I never went back to that dentist.

After this incident, I became very aware of the lack of hygiene standards in Japan.

Until the pandemic, food cooked on site in supermarkets, usually fried foods, were displayed without any coverings. A few times I've told staff that the food needed to be removed because somebody had sneezed or coughed over it. The staff would look at me as if I were crazy!

I've read stories of food poisoning because staff at restaurants used the same cutting board for vegetables after chopping meat on it! At home, I'm very particular about this practice. I have three boards and never use the same one for meat and vegetables. My boards get bleached, after which I pour boiling water over them.

I feel so sorry for the customer who was served a dead mouse. I'm glad that he or she reported it, I hope that something can come from it, that restaurants can start to think more about staffing and training staff. 

The dentist that I wrote about is still open; that is scary. I should have reported him but this was many years ago, before phones with cameras so it would of been my word against his!