Pregnant woman finds rat in hotpot, allegedly offered $4,000 to abort child

Waiter, there's a rat in my soup!

A pregnant woman in China's Shandong province was shocked when she fished out a dead rodent from her hotpot. She had taken a few bites of her meal by then.

The woman was dining with her family at Xiabu Xiabu restaurant on Sept 6.

When her husband alerted the staff, they allegedly offered the couple 20,000 yuan (S$4,000) to get an abortion if they were worried about their baby's health, KanKan News reported.

Photos of the incident made their way online and netizens couldn't be more disgusted by what they saw.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jh4zjGzFgM[/embed]

"I feel like vomiting. I'm never going to eat hotpot outside again," said a Weibo user.

Another user asked: "If something happens to her baby, how are they going to compensate her? Is a life worth only 20,000 yuan?"

Xiabu Xiabu said in a statement on Sept 8 that it had "always placed great emphasis on food security and would make any necessary improvements."

The Shandong outlet was later shut down by local authorities for investigations.

It also reportedly offered the couple a 5,000 yuan compensation.

However, the woman's husband rejected the offer as he wanted her to go for a full body checkup before settling the compensation amount.

After the incident, Xiabu Xiabu's market value fell by 11 per cent (S$291 million) on Tuesday (Sept 11).

The hotpot restaurant chain opened its first outlet in Beijing in 1998 and now operates over 800 outlets in China.

minlee@sph.com.sg