A viral video appearing to show a factory employee at one of China’s biggest beermakers urinating on raw ingredients was published online on Oct 19.
It shows a male worker at a Tsingtao Brewery warehouse clambering into a high-walled container and relieving himself onto its contents.
The footage circulated widely on Chinese social media, racking up tens of millions of views on the popular platform Weibo.
Many social media users reacted to the video with anger and voiced support for one of China’s best-known beverage brands.
Tsingtao said on Oct 20 that it had contacted the police over the incident and an investigation was ongoing.
Hong Kong-listed Tsingtao is China’s second-largest brewer, and its tall bottles of crisp lager are perennial fridge-fillers in bars across East Asia.
In recent years, the Hong Kong-listed company has sought to capitalise on the changing tastes of younger Chinese drinkers by diversifying into craft ales and other products.