The fresh food supermarket chain Hema made waves online after a staff member at a branch in Shanghai was caught switching out the expiration date labels on produce to make it look fresher.
Hema is a chain that purports to integrate online and offline shopping under the Alibaba Group.
Following the scandal, Hema CEO Hou Yi apologized in a statement on China's Twitter-like Weibo on Wednesday, saying that the general manager in the retail store was fired and the most severe punishments would be delivered to anyone who violates the regulations in the future.
Hou Yi, CEO of Hema Supermarket, apologized on Weibo over the label scandal. /Screenshot from Weibo
He also said in the statement that the company would recruit consumers as special inspectors to supervise the store and report any unpleasant shopping experience to him.
The scandal first came to light after a customer found that a staff member at the aforementioned store replaced the old label on a package of carrots with a new one showing a later expiration date. The incident soon raised controversy on social media, sparking criticism against the company's service.
Shanghai's Jing'an District Market Supervision Bureau soon launched an investigation over the case and officially announced on Wednesday that the food retailer would face punishment over suspected consumer fraud.
A woman shopping in the Hema retail store in southwest China's Chengdu City. /VCG Photo
The company later confirmed the scandal and said they would not tolerate such behavior and would impose a series of punishments on the culpable personnel.
However, according to food safety experts, agricultural products do not have exact expiration dates and could be taken off shelves once they become stale, therefore changing the labels should not be regarded as selling expired food, reported Wuhan Evening News.
Gu Zhenhua, head of Shanghai Food Safety Federation, said that the concept of production or expiration date cannot be applied to agricultural products since the date on the package is more like a packaging date or the date when the product hits the shelf.
Hema retail store in southwest China's Chengdu City. /VCG Photo
Many have urged that the labeling process be improved so that retailers and consumers know the exact date of the products, according to Beijing Youth Daily.
The Alibaba-backed Hema Supermarket now has over 30 stores across China and plans to open more in a bid to boost their presence in the new retail sector. The retailer launched its first self-service store in east China's Hangzhou City in August.