Introduction:A consumer purchased a half-baked cheesecake from Luckin Coffee only to find it had expired two and a half months past its shelf life. By invoking the Food Safety Law, they claimed the statutory compensation of 1,000 yuan. This article details the incident from the customer service’s initial offer of only coffee vouchers to the eventual legal compensation, explains the legal basis involved, and shares key points on freshness management for snack-type products to help readers avoid food safety risks.
Recently, a consumer discovered that a half-baked cheesecake purchased from Luckin Coffee had been expired for as long as two and a half months. The consumer immediately demanded the statutory compensation of 1,000 yuan under the Food Safety Law. However, Luckin’s customer service initially offered only ten coffee vouchers as compensation, later raising the offer to 300 yuan plus ten vouchers, both of which were rejected by the consumer. This incident has sparked widespread discussion about food safety management in Luckin’s stores.
According to the consumer’s recollection, on September 21, they ordered a cup of coffee and a half-baked cheesecake at Luckin. When preparing to eat the cake, they noticed it had already expired. Checking the packaging information, the production date of the cake was January 15, 2024, with a shelf life of six months, while the blue label indicated a sale date of September 21, 2024—showing the product had been expired for two months. In fact, the cake had surpassed its legal sales deadline by two and a half months.
According to relevant provisions of the Food Safety Law, if a merchant provides food that does not meet food safety standards, consumers can demand a refund or compensation for losses, and may also claim compensation equal to ten times the price paid or three times the loss incurred; if such compensation is less than 1,000 yuan, it shall be calculated as 1,000 yuan. This consumer made their reasonable claim based on this legal provision.
After discovering the issue, the consumer quickly contacted Luckin’s customer service to report the situation and cited the legal provisions to claim 1,000 yuan in compensation. The customer service stated that the issue needed to be escalated and that a specialist would follow up. The next day, the customer service called back saying that the store manager had checked similar products but found no other expired items, and proposed compensating with ten coffee vouchers.
The consumer clearly stated that this solution was unacceptable. She pointed out that while being a day or two expired might be understandable, continuing to sell a product more than two months past its expiry—and the store failing to notice in time—reflected obvious management negligence. After her insistence, the customer service later adjusted the compensation to 300 yuan plus ten coffee vouchers, but she still insisted on claiming compensation according to the law.
Many netizens claiming to be Luckin insiders pointed out in the comments that snack-type products such as half-baked cheesecakes are outsourced items, usually coming with two types of packaging: one is the manufacturer’s original packaging, which clearly indicates the production date and shelf life; the other is a blue label from Luckin used to mark the sales deadline. These products often arrive frozen, and employees need to thaw them in advance and print the expiration date via the single-screen machine (usually for use within 2 to 3 days). Stores are expected to strictly follow the “first in, first out” principle, regularly take inventory, and immediately remove and dispose of any expired products. In theory, expired sales should not occur.
However, in this incident, the half-baked cheesecake remained unsold and undiscovered even after being expired for two months, indicating that the involved store had not implemented these basic management measures and also reflected insufficient attention to food safety. Industry insiders noted that as a well-known chain brand, Luckin has always maintained strict requirements for employee training and quality control standards, especially adopting a zero-tolerance attitude toward expired food. In past cases, stores selling expired food often faced serious actions such as “dismissal of all staff” or “store closure for rectification.”
After the incident sparked heated discussion on social media, Luckin finally paid the consumer the legally mandated compensation amount of 1,000 yuan in accordance with the Food Safety Law by noon the next day, resolving the matter in accordance with the law. This incident not only reminds consumers to pay attention to food expiration dates but also highlights the importance of safeguarding rights through legal means.
For consumers who enjoy purchasing snacks at coffee shops, it is recommended to check the production and expiration dates on the packaging before buying, and observe whether the product’s appearance and smell are normal. If anything seems suspicious, they should immediately inform the staff or file a complaint through official channels to protect their own rights. In addition, stores should strengthen employee training, enforce the “first in, first out” policy and daily inventory checks to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
