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| Pictures of a Starbucks Mango Banana Blended beverage containing dozens of plastic particles that a pregnant consumer uploaded on an online community. / Courtesy of Nate Pann |
By Park Jae-hyuk
A Starbucks store here sold a drink containing dozens of plastic particles to a pregnant woman, the global coffee chain's Korean unit admitted Wednesday.
The particles fell into the beverage when a barista unknowingly dropped a bottle cap from a bottle of mango juice into a blender.
Although Starbucks Coffee Korea said the customer accepted the company's apology, it has come under criticism for the store's poor response to her.
Earlier this week, the customer wrote about the incident on a local online community, Nate Pann, uploading a picture of the plastic particles.
"Immediately after I took a sip of the Mango Banana Blended that my husband bought for me over the weekend, I felt something strange and spit out three plastic particles," she wrote. "When I looked I could see the debris in the cup."
Her husband showed the drink to the store clerk who said they could get a new beverage, according to the woman.
"When my husband complained about it, the clerk then said we could receive a refund," she wrote.
Claiming the drink contained dozens of sharp plastic particles, the victim wrote that she might have miscarried, had she finished the beverage.
"Without checking my safety, Starbucks only offered me an exchange or refund," she complained. "I asked the company to get in touch with me, but it has yet to respond."
Starbucks Coffee Korea admitted its fault.
"We tried to get in touch with the customer but we could only belatedly meet with her due to a scheduling conflict," a Starbucks Coffee Korea official said. "She accepted our apology and deleted the online post from the website."
Promising to prevent the recurrence of such accidents, the company said it will set customer safety as its top priority. However, it did not discipline or punish the barista for his mistake.
Operating more than a thousand stores in Korea, 500,000 customers visit Starbucks every day on average. The company recently celebrated its 18th anniversary here.
