US-based supermarket chain Sam’s Club is facing investigation after a shocking discovery at its China branch. South China Morning PostA customer was stunned after finding a human tooth in a meat-filled mooncake she bought from a Changzhou location in Jiangsu province. A video posted by the woman on Douyin shows the shocking discovery in the 30 yuan ($4) pastry. The disturbing footage shows a hand holding a suspected human molar filled with meat, which rests on a piece of tissue paper next to a partially eaten mooncake. She confirmed that the tooth did not belong to any of her family members and immediately reported the incident to the police.
A voice can be heard saying, “My family just ate this … look what they ate. It’s horrible.”
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 that it is “impossible” for a tooth to be found in the meat filling.
Liu explained that the manufacturing process involves finely chopping meat, which is then scanned by X-ray machines designed to detect bone fragments. He stressed that the company has a decade-long track record of incident-free production. The manufacturer has also submitted surveillance footage to Sam’s Club and the Changzhou Market Regulatory Department for review.
Reactions online ranged from disgust to dark humour, with one user joking: “Mooncakes: now with meat and calcium!”
However, another user offered an alternative explanation, suggesting the customer should double-check if a family member has inadvertently lost a tooth. “It’s possible to lose part of a tooth without any pain, so they may not even know it’s missing,” they wrote.
Sam’s Club has faced food safety concerns in China before. In 2022, a woman from Fujian province alleged that her uncle found three artificial human teeth inside a Swiss roll he bought from a Sam’s Club store. The uncle’s teeth reportedly broke after biting into the product. Although the store promised an investigation, no definitive findings were ever made public.
