Cafe Amazon has temporarily closed one of its shops in Bangkok after a customer complained of finding small crystals of an unknown substance in two containers of iced chocolate bought there.
Franchise owner PTT Oil and Retail Co, a business arm of PTT Plc, announced on Wednesday the immediate temporary closure of its outlet at GMM Grammy Place Building on Asoke Road, so that all equipment could be sanitised. No reopening date was given.
However, the firm posted a picture showing a placard at the shop saying that it will reopen on Thursday. The Bangkok Post called Cafe Amazon on Thursday to confirm the reopening date, but no one answered the line.
The shop's closure was announced after a customer using the Facebook name Sarawut Kirtiwasin said he ordered two cups of iced chocolate to go at the Amazon Cafe outlet on Tuesday. He was horrified to discover an amount of small clear, hard crystals in the drink. He posted a video on the social media account showing what they found, and it went viral.
"Will we survive tonight?" he posted.
Cafe Amazon posted its response on its Facebook account on Wednesday night. It said the small clear objects found in the drink were due to a container used to supply ice to the shop being substandard. The ice maker, whose name was not disclosed, had promised to ensure all production processes met with the required standards.
It did not say what the hard crystals found by the customers were.
The customer also demanded to know, were they harmful if he swallowed them?