'Sushi terrorist' who licks food on conveyor belt causes restaurant's stock value to plunge

A teenager, dubbed a ‘sushi terrorist’, caused the stock value of a Japanese restaurant to plunge after he was filmed licking the top of a communal soy sauce bottle and contaminating a piece of food on a conveyor belt.

In a now-viral video, called ‘sushi terrorism’, the individual licks the top of a soy sauce bottle which is used by the restaurant’s customers.

He also licks the rim of a teacup before placing it back on a shelf and touched a piece of sushi after licking his finger.

The gross footage - which was filmed at a branch of the Sushiro restaurant chain in the city of Gifu - has been watched almost 40 million times on Twitter.

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It has also sparked a worrying new 'sushi terrorism' trend and not only are customers and restaurants concerned, it has had a huge affect on the stock price of the restaurant's parent company Food & Life Cos. which dropped 4.8 percent, Bloomberg reports.

Some of the other videos shows people licking spoons or putting wasabi on pieces of sushi passing by on a conveyor belt.

Sushiro said in a statement that the person in the video had apologised along with his parents. However, the company has filed a formal police complaint.

“As a company, we will continue to respond firmly with both criminal and civil cases,” Sushiro said.

The company confirmed that all soy sauce bottles affected have been replaced and all the cups have been cleaned.

Because of the ‘sushi terrorist’ the Gifu branch and others nearby have introduced new procedures. Customers will now have to take utensils and condiments to their tables from a serving point at restaurant branches nationwide.

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The parent company also confirmed to Bloomberg that acrylic screens will be introduced at some outlets to prevent food tampering and fresh seasonings and cutlery will be given to customers who request it.

It turns out that the teen in the video is just one of the many pranksters who are filming themselves tampering with food in sushi restaurants.

Two other chains that have been affected by the pranks, Hama-sushi and Kura Sushi, have said they will take legal action.