Restaurant forced to compensate 4,000 customers after teenagers filmed themselves 'peeing in hotpot broth'

A restaurant was forced to compensate 4,000 diners after two teenagers filmed themselves urinating into a hotpot broth.

When you go out to eat, you expect yourself to be able to enjoy your meal in peace.

The hygiene, quality of food, and respect shown by other eaters is usually something you expect to be of the utmost importance.

Except, what happens when two diners do something, and nobody knows until a video goes viral?

Sadly, that’s what happened in a private room at a Shanghai branch of China’s biggest hotpot chain last month.

The viral video shows two teenagers urinating into a hotpot broth, whilst standing on the table.

The boys, who are both 17, were filmed urinating at Haidilao, which has now offered to compensate 4,000 diners after public reaction to the act reached boiling point.

Usually, according to the Haidilao packaged spicy broth, the ingredients listed are, Soybean Oil, Chilli, Bean sauce (soy, sugar, water), salt, Chinese prickly ash, pickled pepper, pickled ginger, sugar, garlic, spices, onion, fermented black bean, edible essence…

But unfortunately, urine was the last item to be added, and it meant that the hygiene standard couldn’t have been upheld due to ‘staff training’.

The restaurant chain has apologised, confirming that it replaced all hotpots and dining utensils after talking about the incident once the video went viral.

They wrote on social media at the time: “In the early hours of February 24, two men urinated into a hotpot after dining in a private room at a Haidilao branch on the Bund in Shanghai.

“As management had never made contingency plans or given training for dealing with this type of incident, staff at our branch were unable to detect any abnormalities at the scene or uphold the safety of the dining environment.”

It went on to say: "We fully understand that the distress caused to our customers by this incident cannot be fully compensated for by any means, but we will do our utmost to take responsibility."

This has led to Haidilao’s owners having to give out cash reimbursements to all customers who ate at the branch between February 24 and March 8.

Not only will all customers be given a full refund, they will also be given a cash compensation which amounts to 10 times the cash they paid for their meals at the diner.

The teenage culprits were allegedly drunk, as reported by Shanghai police, and they have also been arrested for the act.

After the incident occurred, it remains unclear whether the hotpot was disinfected after it was urinated in.

Two boys have been detained by Shanghai police for allegedly urinating into a hotpot at an outlet of famous restaurant #Haidilao, police officers announced on Saturday.
In the video, the man also laughed and said that the restaurant, Haidilao, China's hotpot chain, had launched a… pic.twitter.com/WeT0QSliDH

— Shanghai Daily (@shanghaidaily) March 8, 2025

If not, it could pose health risks for anyone who ingests urine.

This is because it contains human waste products which are filtered from our kidneys.

While the art of Urophagia (the consumption of urine) has been around for centuries as it was used in several ancient cultures for various health, healing, and cosmetic purposes, it’s not something that’s widely practiced today.

Urine contains a high concentration of sodium, which makes you thirstier and can also dehydrate you.

UNILAD reached out to Haidilao for comment.