A kitchen worker was caught on camera furiously rubbing his scalp to shake dandruff onto a finished pizza after a row with a customer.
Shocking footage showed the employee bending over the pie and rubbing his head for several seconds before making a sprinkling motion with the same hand.
Some clips also appear to show a spit-like gesture as he stood at the worktop.
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Two female colleagues standing nearby did not stop him and seemed to chat throughout.
The clip, filmed on a delivery-app ‘open kitchen’ camera, took place at a Zunbao Pizza outlet in Hangzhou, China, at 7.34pm on 12 September.
A customer watching the live feed spotted the act and rang the restaurant immediately.
The pizza never left the kitchen and was thrown away.
Staff later admitted the video was genuine and said the worker had fallen out with a customer and wanted to “disgust” him.
They also conceded that managers had been negligent.
The man has since been suspended from his job.
The restaurant displayed a notice on the door stating that they have temporarily closed for “rectification”.
A staff member told reporters: “We have already reported it to police and are assisting the investigation.”
Asked why the worker did it, the staff member said: “The specifics need to be asked of the person involved.”
On reopening, they added: “We have to wait for the company’s arrangements.”
A company spokesperson said the clip showed “an individual sudden act” that “seriously violated the food safety bottom line.”
The spokesperson said Zunbao Pizza was “very distressed,” asked whether there may have been “a mental abnormality,” and added that harming consumers “cannot be forgiven.”
The chain has ordered a nationwide hygiene sweep of over 3,000 outlets, as reported by Need To Know.
Gongshu District market regulators interviewed the manager on 14 September, opened a formal case and demanded better legal and hygiene training.
They said they would “deal with it according to law” once the probe ends.
The police confirmed that a report had been filed.
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