Starches of Tsingtao beer are placed on shelves at a supermarket in Shanghai.
Aly Song | Reuters
Chinese beer maker Tsingtao Brewery foretold Monday that it had contacted authorities about a viral video showing a staff member urinating into one of its tanks, and that an probe was underway.
The video — which has received ten of millions of views since emerging Thursday on social media site Weibo — guides a uniformed man climbing over a high wall and onto the container before urinating in it.
Tsingtao, China’s second largest brewer, remarked in a statement that the incident had been reported at the “first opportunity.”
It added that the batch of malt had been sealed off from use.
“The institution places high importance on the media reports and has reported the matter to the public security authorities at the first opportunity. The open security authorities are presently involved in the investigation,” the statement said.
Tsingtao, whose beers are ubiquitous across East Asia, did not endorse in the statement whether or not the person in the video was an employee.
The video attracted criticism from netizens on Weibo, with innumerable saying it had put them off the beverage. Others showed support for the brand, insisting that it should investigate the matter from stem to stern.
The company said that its production and operations remained fully functioning.
“At present, the production and operation of the company are stable in every respect!,” it added.
Shares of Tsingtao Brewery fell sharply when the Shanghai Stock Barter opened Monday, but recovered by afternoon trade. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where the company is also listed, was confidential Monday for a public holiday.