Sam's Club, a US-based supermarket chain, is facing investigation after a shocking discovery in one of its China branches. According to the South China Morning Post, a customer was left stunned after she found a human tooth in a meat-filled mooncake purchased from the Changzhou location in Jiangsu province. A video posted on Douyin by the woman shows the unsettling find in the 30-yuan ($4) pastry. The disturbing footage shows a hand holding a suspected human molar, covered in meat filling, on a piece of tissue paper next to a partially consumed mooncake. She confirmed the tooth wasn't from anyone in her family and immediately reported the incident to the police.
''My family ate this just now... Look at what they ate. It's terrifying,'' a voice can be heard saying.
Sam's Club has now launched an investigation into the disturbing discovery, while the mooncake manufacturer has denied any possibility of contamination. Speaking to Hongxing News, spokesperson Liu insisted it's ''impossible'' for a tooth to be mixed into the meat filling.
Liu explained that the manufacturing process involves mincing meat, which is then scanned by X-ray machines designed to detect bone fragments. He emphasised that the company has a decade-long track record of incident-free production. The manufacturer has also handed over surveillance footage for review by Sam's Club and the Changzhou market regulatory department.
Online reactions ranged from disgust to dark humour, with one user joking, ''Mooncake: now with meat and a side of calcium!''
However, another user offered an alternative explanation, suggesting the customer double-check if a family member unknowingly lost a tooth. He wrote, ''It's possible to lose part of a tooth without feeling any pain, so they might not even realize it's missing.''
Sam's Club has faced food safety concerns in China before. In 2022, a woman from Fujian province alleged that her uncle discovered three artificial human teeth inside Swiss rolls bought from a Sam's Club store. The uncle reportedly broke his teeth after biting into the product. Although the store promised an investigation, no definitive findings were ever made public.
