Images of a "Starbucks Only" water spout in a bathroom hit the Internet causing many customers to question if "toilet water" was used to make their coffee.
According to The Huffington Post, Hong Kong-based tabloid Apple Daily first published "images of the questionable practice along with a report stating that Starbucks staff fetch water from the public restroom in the building's parking garage several times every day and use it to brew coffee."
Reportedly taken at the chain's Bank of China Tower location, the photos show a "man retrieving water from a spout in a men's bathroom," using a container on a cart to bring it to the coffee shop.
Various reports say the Starbucks Chain has used the "toilet water" since Starbucks first opened in October 2011. Reports also note the water is filtered before brewing coffee.
According to the Agence France-Presse, Starbucks spokeswoman Wendy Pang confirmed the water was collected less than five times a day by staff from a tap in a toilet located near the store that it was dedicated for collecting drinking water.
"There is no direct water supply to that particular store, that's why we need to obtain the drinking water from the nearest source in the building," Pang told AFP.
Reports say the filtration system may not have removed all potentials hazards to consumers.
According to The Huffington Post, Hong Kong University School of Public Health professor Benjamin Cowling told HK Magazine "that a filtration system may remove bacteria, but could miss viruses, which tend to be smaller in size."
"If the staff need to frequently visit the toilet they may increase the risk of bringing other pathogens from the washroom into their food and drink preparation area," Cowling told the magazine.
Pang told the AFP that the Chinese branch has switched to distilled water.
