The company has sealed the whole batch of ingredients that appeared in the clip. (Representative pic)
A top beer producer in China is investigating a viral video that appears to show a factory employee urinating into an ingredient container. According to AFP, the clip, shared on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, showed a man wearing a helmet and uniform climbing over a high wall and into the container before urinating inside it. The incident took place at a Tsingtao Brewery warehouse. The footage garnered millions of views online, and also came to the company's attention, following which it alerted the police immediately and sealed the said batch of ingredients.
Tsingtao is one of China's top beer producers and its biggest exporter. According to the news agency, the company on Friday said that it contacted the police over the incident and an investigation was ongoing.
"Our company attaches high importance to the relevant video that emerged from Tsingtao Brewery No. 3 on October 19," the beer maker said in a statement. "We reported the incident to the police at the earliest opportunity, and public security organs are involved in the investigation," it added.
"At present, the batch of malt in question has been completely sealed. The company continues to strengthen its management procedures and ensure product quality," the statement continued.
Separately, citing the Business outlet National Business Daily, the BBC reported that both the person who took the video and the person appearing in it were not direct employees of the company. The Bureau of Market Supervision and Administration of Pingdu City, where the factory is located, also said that they immediately set up a team and conducted an on-site investigation after spotting the video, and sealed the whole batch of ingredients that appeared in the clip.
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Meanwhile, several Chinese social media users reacted to the video with anger and voiced support for one of China's best-known beverage brands. "A piss that will ruin a lot of money, this worker has done some real damage here," one user wrote, as per the outlet.
"Good thing I don't drink beer - but it's unimaginable if this brand is finished because of this," said another. "Is this the first time though?" commented a third.
The BBC reported that the incident also led to Tsingtao's share price fall on Monday. The company's shares fell sharply when the Shanghai Stock Exchange opened on Monday morning but were trading broadly flat by the afternoon, the outlet reported.