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Mixue Ice Cream & Tea Controversies
Overview
Mixue Ice Cream & Tea is a Chinese multinational fast-food chain that has over 46 000 outlets across 12 countries, including China. It recently overtook McDonald’s and Starbucks to become the world’s largest fast-food chain. The company sells ice cream, milk teas, and other refreshing fruit teas at a low price, which is their biggest selling point. However, before they rose to fame, they had a few controversies in the past regarding their food.
Controversies
Food Safety
In December 2022, journalists from The Beijing News went undercover and applied for jobs at 2 stores in Nanjing. They reported that they did not have to sign labour contracts (which is important to protect worker rights) and that expired and discarded ingredients were being used to make the bubble tea. This led to over 4000 complaints about their food safety in March 2023.
Child Labour
On 2 April 2022, a Mixue outlet in Tiantai Country was found to have employed a 15-year-old girl, breaching China’s national law whereby under-16s are not allowed to be employed. A fine of 12 500 yuan was then given for illegal use of child labour.
Alleged Racism
In March 2025, a job advertisement poster was put up at the Mixue Sri Sinar outlet in Malaysia, where it stated that the criteria was “Malay and Chinese with experience”. This led to a load of backlash and criticism from netizens, who accused them of racial discrimination for not hiring other ethnic groups, like Indians, questioning why they did not have the same opportunities.