Restaurant worker faces backlash over viral spoiled fish video

A viral video showing a kitchen worker preparing spicy fish stew with visibly degraded ingredients at a domestic restaurant sparked widespread public backlash on October 4, after circulating widely across online communities and social media platforms, v.daum.net reported.

Kitchen Video Shows Discolored Stew Ingredients

The footage features a woman wearing an apron as she stirs a pot of fish stew with a ladle inside a commercial kitchen. The person filming the video points out the ingredients inside the pot and remarks that the fish has been dead for about a week, according to the source material. The recorder notes that green slime has formed on the fish, but adds that the dish can still be served to customers after boiling. It is for customers to eat. Our store employees do not eat it, the person says in the clip before mimicking customers praising the flavor and laughing. The video concludes with the kitchen worker smiling and flashing a V-sign at the camera.

Social Media Users Criticize Food Hygiene Standards

As the video spread rapidly across social media platforms and online forums, it triggered severe criticism regarding food hygiene standards and public health safety.

Vietnamese Employee Apologizes Before Deleting Statement

Following the intense backlash, an individual identified as a Vietnamese national employee and presumed to be the person in the video posted an online apology. I just wanted to make a fun video as a joke and had no idea it would spread like this, the employee wrote, claiming that the statements about spoiled fish were untrue and that the ingredients had no other issues. The account and the apology statement were subsequently deleted. The controversy also drew divided reactions among netizens in Vietnam, with some arguing that marine fish transported inland naturally appear lifeless after days at sea, while others condemned the mocking attitude displayed in the recording as damaging to the restaurant’s reputation.