Live Frog Found in Japanese Cup Udon... Company Issues "Deep Apology"

Frog Found in Marugame Seimen Product
Headquarters "Will Strive to Prevent Recurrence"

Japan's udon company 'Marugame Seimen' officially apologized after a frog was found in one of its products.

On the 24th, according to local media including the Asahi Shimbun, Marugame Seimen's headquarters stated, "We deeply apologize for the great concern and inconvenience caused" regarding a live frog found in a cup of udon purchased by a consumer.

Earlier, on the 21st, a netizen posted on their Twitter, "I was eating (Marugame Seimen) udon when suddenly a frog appeared." The photo shared by the netizen showed a frog swimming in the udon broth. It was reported that the netizen realized the frog was inside the udon when they had almost finished eating it.

[Image source=Twitter]

The product in question is the 'Spicy Tantan Salad Udon,' which began sales on the 16th and surpassed 200,000 units sold within three days.

As the controversy spread, Marugame Seimen acknowledged the presence of the frog in the product through their official website and expressed their apology. Marugame Seimen stated, "It has been determined that the frog was mixed in not at the store but at the raw vegetable processing factory," adding, "We take this incident seriously and will make efforts to prevent recurrence."

The company plans to suspend sales of all products containing fresh vegetables until the 25th.

Meanwhile, Marugame Seimen is a large chain operating over 1,000 stores worldwide. In South Korea, it opened its first store in Mapo-gu, Seoul, in 2012 and operated up to 12 stores. However, due to the boycott of Japanese products in South Korea in 2019, performance deteriorated, and later, restrictions on business operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused further damage, leading to the closure of all remaining stores in South Korea.