Convenience store operator Circle K Hong Kong was fined HK$3500 (US$450) after a customer found 208 ants in a hot dog sold at one of its outlets in Wah Fu Estate in January.
Special magistrate Arthur Lam Hei-wei asked the store to step up its supervision, saying he understood that ants may be small but one is one too many, and there were more than 200 in this case.
It was not clear who counted the ants or whether they were alive or dead. Or for that matter how a customer could start eating a hot dog without noticing such a large population of insects…
He was told that the buyer took his hot dog with extras to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, where an examination resulted in the ant count.
A company representative from Circle K on Monday pleaded guilty to one summons of food not of the quality demanded by the purchaser.
Prosecutors said the company had six past convictions, but that it was a first for this particular store.
In mitigation, the court heard that the store stepped up its cleaning after receiving the customer complaint, but it did not find any ants even after dismantling machines to check.
A Circle K spokesman has been quoted in the media as saying the hot dog may have been contaminated outside the store because the ants were found 20 minutes after the customer left the premises. However, the company pleaded guilty anyway to avoid prolonging the legal process.
“The outlet at Wah Fu Estate had been inspected by an officer from the department for the case reported, and he was satisfied with the store conditions for food production without further question.”
Circle K’s slogan on its Hong Kong website is “Dare to try”.