Stomach-churning footage allegedly captures the moment a diner discovered a hairless, squirming newborn rat in her takeout.
The memorable dining experience reportedly went down in Hong Kong, with a hungry restaurant patron forking over $5.40 for a delightful beef rice noodle lunch from the Wa Jer Restaurant on Sept. 7.
However, the diner's happy meal soon transformed into a nightmare noshing experience. Alongside the satay sauce was allegedly a hefty portion of a live, newborn rat. The diner filed a complaint with the local Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, according to the South China Morning Post.
That said, the diner wasn't shocked enough to forget to get some handy footage of the revolting alleged incident and post it online.
Of course, the footage (posted below and probably something to be skipped by animal lovers or those about to grab a bite) promptly went viral. Many onlookers were left scratching their heads (and holding their stomachs), wondering how the hairless rat ended up in the takeout order.
Reportedly, the local Food and Environmental Hygiene Department went on to obtain the dish in the video. They also inspected the restaurant in question.
Authorities Weigh in on Baby Rat Allegedly in Takeout Order
Authorities weren't pleased with the joint's hygiene conditions.
"Regarding the suspected discovery of a baby rat in takeaway food, the department is conducting an investigation covering various aspects. [This includes]food preparation, packaging, storage, and delivery," a health department spokesman explained. "At this stage, it is inappropriate to jump to conclusions as to when and how the baby rat got into the food based solely on online video clips or the finding of a suspected baby rat in the food."
The restaurant's unnamed operator was reportedly shocked by the incident. They went on to claim that Wa Jer Restaurant, which had been operating for about a year, had never had a problem with baby critters ending up in the food before. The operator sidestepped questions about whether they thought this might be a vomit-inducing prank. They also insisted the restaurant underwent a deep cleaning on a monthly basis.
Meanwhile, at least one X user was left a skeptic after reviewing the footage online.
"Am I the only one noticing this mouse was more like deliberately placed inside there by someone?" they wrote. "Clearly this is intentional, probably to defame a restaurant to bring it down. If the mouse was cooked with the food, it wouldn't had been alive nor being there," they further speculated.
"Besides, a mouse baby of that size? As if a chef wouldn't notice it when preparing the food or throwing it in the wok," another X denizen agreed.
Of course, at least one onlooker couldn't help but crack a joke over the ordeal.
"Protein is protein, chief...," they quipped.
The fate of the baby rat is unknown. However, we here at Wide Open Country would like to think that the local Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has adopted it. For one thing, the little rat would be a great star witness should this case go forward. Secondly, the varmint would make one hell of a health department mascot when it grew up...
