Pizza Chain Denies Roach Was Baked Into Dough After Customer Complaint
Translated & summarized from Ice by baba
A customer in Ness Ziona claimed to find a cockroach baked into his Pizza Hut order, leading him to report the incident to the chain and the Ministry of Health. Pizza Hut denied the claim, arguing that the baking process would have destroyed the insect, and suggested the image might be fabricated. While the company offered compensation as a service gesture, they maintained their position and expressed disappointment that the customer contacted the media. This follows a similar report from 2019 and another recent incident involving a cockroach found in a packaged salad.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- A Ness Ziona customer reported finding a cockroach baked into a Pizza Hut pizza.
- Pizza Hut denied the claim, stating the baking process would have destroyed the insect.
- The company suggested the image might be AI-generated or the insect entered post-baking.
- Pizza Hut offered compensation but denied the customer's claim was valid.
- A similar incident was reported at a Pizza Hut branch in 2019.
- A separate recent case involved a cockroach found in a packaged salad.
A customer in Ness Ziona claims he found a cockroach baked into the bottom of a pizza he ordered from Pizza Hut, prompting him to contact both the restaurant chain and the Ministry of Health. The customer reported the incident to N12, stating he sought an investigation into how the insect ended up in his food. Pizza Hut, however, disputes the customer's account, suggesting the cockroach may have entered the pizza after baking or that the image was digitally altered. According to the customer, during conversations with Pizza Hut representatives, including the national service manager and the vice president of sales, possibilities such as the insect entering during delivery or the use of artificial intelligence to create the image were raised. He stated he was not seeking financial compensation but a thorough investigation and update on the findings, though he was offered pizzas and ice cream, which he refused. The customer also contacted the Ministry of Health's branch in Rehovot, which reportedly involved the Ness Ziona municipality. Pizza Hut responded to N12 by stating that the provided image showed only one slice remaining with the insect, while the rest of the pizza was consumed. They argued that the pizza's seven-minute baking time at approximately 260 degrees Celsius would not allow a cockroach to remain in that condition if baked within the dough, thus rejecting the claim. Despite their doubts about the circumstances, the company offered compensation as a gesture of goodwill, emphasizing it was not an admission of guilt. Pizza Hut expressed regret that the customer went to the media despite the explanation and compensation offered, maintaining their position and disagreeing with the customer's presentation of the case.
This is not the first such incident involving Pizza Hut. In May 2019, a customer in central Israel reported finding a dead cockroach under a pizza slice from a branch in Ashkelon. At the time, the branch explained pest control had been conducted that day, and compensation was offered and refused. Pizza Hut stated then that the branch had undergone pest control according to standards and that they were investigating how the cockroach entered the box and why staff did not notice it. A similar incident also occurred recently in packaged food, when a 19-year-old student in Netanya claimed to have found a cockroach in a branded eggplant salad. The student contacted the company, the supermarket, and the Ministry of Health. The salad company, Salati Shamir, stated that batch checks found no further complaints and that they reached a compensation agreement with the customer.
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