Yesterday, the State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration issued a notice that according to the law, the responsible person of Wal Mart (China) Investment Co., Ltd., that is, Sam's headquarters, was interviewed about the food safety problems in Sam's offline stores and online stores.

On the same day, Sam responded by stating that he fully recognizes, deeply reflects on, and sincerely accepts, and also stated that a special rectification work group has been established.

Why has Sam been making headlines frequently lately?

I still remember a recent video from a mother who said, 'My son can come to Sam's Club at the age of 5, and I only have the opportunity to come to Sam's Club in my 30s. This is the meaning of parental support.'. As soon as the video was released, the comment section exploded, and netizens questioned her using a membership fee of 260 yuan to hype up parenting anxiety and class anxiety. The account was banned for 30 days and the commercial monetization function was also cancelled.

These two seemingly unrelated events actually point to the same issue, Sam, a membership based supermarket revered by countless middle-class families as the "gateway to quality living," is experiencing a double collapse of trust.

01. Interviewed, Sam's' safety 'filter shattered

Let's talk about this interview first.

The term 'frequent' was used in the notification, which means that Sam's food safety issues were not accidental or isolated, but rather occurred in batches.

I don't know, but in the past six months, Sam's food safety accidents have almost never stopped.

In December last year, a consumer bought a box of sweet potatoes through the Sam's Club app's "Speed Delivery", opened the box, and found a live mouse lying inside. The parties involved said that they were scared to the point of being scared to death on the spot. Sam's later explanation was that the goods may have been damaged by surrounding pests during their placement at the pickup point. It's obvious that it's not our problem, it's an environmental issue.

In March of this year, Sam's internet famous product "Botherless Organic Freeze Dried Strawberries" was exposed, and the OEM factory was the same as the pesticide residue and heavy metal exceeding products exposed on March 15th. The heavy metal cadmium exceeded the standard by 14.5 times, and more than 20 pesticide residues exceeding the scope of use were also detected. Consumers seek customer service to protect their rights, only to receive a response of "in compliance with national standards", without even showing the test report.

In the same month, the Shenzhen market supervision department reported that the pesticide residues in the high-altitude Sichuan pepper sold at Sam's Club exceeded the standard.

In April, a consumer found maggots in the udon noodles bought by Sam's Club in Shenzhen.

Consumers have also reported that the Thai coconut palm pulp they bought turned purple and the coconut water was cloudy. After their children drank it, they continued to have diarrhea, and the store insisted that there were "no quality issues". A mother found live maggots in the sealed packaging of udon noodles, and the child had already eaten them, vomiting on the spot. Pumpkin bread, which claims to be "fresh and guaranteed", has a large area of mold during its shelf life.

Online channels are not much better either. Many consumers have reported that Sam's "Speedy Delivery" service has become a dedicated channel for clearing expired inventory. A consumer spent 680 yuan to become a member and received a vegetable salad with less than 24 hours left until expiration.

The customer service's response was both funny and funny: "Our company policy is like this when we put products on shelves. If you don't want them to be on time, you need to leave a note in the order saying 'no expiration date'

By mid June, there had been over 15000 complaints related to Sam on the Black Cat Complaints Platform.

Where exactly is the problem?

Sam's expansion speed in China in recent years is visible to the naked eye. In April 2021, Sam's had only 32 stores in China. By May 2026, this number had become 67. In just 2025, 10 new stores were opened, setting a record since entering China.

Expansion itself is not a problem, the problem is that quality control has not kept up. Analysis has pointed out that in order to support rapid expansion, Sam has compressed the supplier audit cycle, reduced the frequency of cold storage inspections, and reduced quality control training. The once proud "strict selection" standard has gradually given way in terms of scale and speed.

To put it simply, as you work hard to open a store and reduce costs, the string of food safety will eventually be stretched. A membership fee of 260 yuan cannot buy the promise of "strict selection", let alone the right to exemption from liability.

02. The "uplifting meme" has collapsed, shattering the illusion of the middle class

Let's talk about that mom again.

The video she posted was actually following a popular online phenomenon called "Sam's meme". This meme can be put simply as netizens use an exaggerated "middle-class literature" style to package Sam's Club shopping as a symbol of "class transition". What are the variations of this meme, "Sam's first fake person" and "Sam's visa".

But these girls have gone too far. She said, 'I only have a chance to come to Sam's when I'm in my 30s.' It's just a supermarket, as if I were going abroad. This is not a big deal, the rest is even more explosive, saying that 'coming at the age of 5 is the meaning of parental support', directly linking an ordinary consumption behavior with parenting, social class, and parental responsibilities.

It makes sense for netizens not to buy it. Sam's membership fee is 260 yuan per year, which is equivalent to just one meal. You raised it to the height of a 'lift', not only appearing pretentious, but also exuding an uncomfortable sense of superiority, as if saying that those who can walk around Sam's are lifted, and those who cannot enter are not worthy.

Later, she deleted the video, apologized, and said she was "following the trend and playing with memes". But the platform checked her account history and found that she had been dealt with before for "absurd dressing up and promoting bad values", and after the punishment expired, she repeatedly posted homogeneous posing content. This time, there will be a direct ban of 30 days and the commercial monetization function will also be cancelled.

The reason why this incident has sparked such a big public backlash is ultimately because Sam has been symbolized over the years.

Once upon a time, a membership fee of 260 yuan was a 'middle-class pass'. On social media platforms, "Sam's Club" and "Sam's Must Buy List" are traffic passwords. People are willing to pay for this card, not only because of the product itself, but also because of the sense of identification within the circle of 'I have what no one else has'.

But in the past two years, the wind direction has changed. Sam listed items such as Haoliyou, Panpan, and Weilong that can also be found in ordinary supermarkets; The product images on the app were changed from real photos to refined images and then back again; The proportion of self owned brands is declining, and their uniqueness is being diluted.

When "strict selection" is no longer strict, and "exclusivity" is no longer exclusive, the symbolic meaning carried by that membership card begins to crumble. The downfall of the "uplifting meme" precisely indicates that the public is tired of this narrative of consumerism - you are a supermarket, don't add so much drama to yourself.

03. When a supermarket loses both "safety" and "dignity" at the same time

Putting these two things together, you will find that Sam is facing a very awkward situation:

One is the collapse of trust at the physical level, and the other is the collapse of trust at the spiritual level.

A brand that loses both "safety" and "dignity" is much more serious than a simple food safety crisis.

Sam's response came quickly. Fully recognized, deeply reflected upon, and sincerely accepted. These words sound familiar because Sam has made similar statements before. The question is, what happens after apologizing? Can the special rectification team really change the problem? Can those compressed audit cycles be restored to normal? Can the issue of expired food at Speedy Delivery be completely resolved?

But to be honest, what is even more deadly than fines and interviews is that those who were once willing to pay membership fees are voting with their feet.

More and more people are returning their cards, and there are even more posts on social media called 'Sam's Lightning' than 'planting grass'. This is not the ruthlessness of consumers, but the law of the market.

Food safety is the most basic bottom line for ordinary people. You can print "strict selection", "high-end", and "imported" all over the packaging, but you can't stop the negative word-of-mouth. The 'quality persona' that Sam spent over twenty years building is now being destroyed by himself.

There is a classic line in "The Grandmaster" that goes, "In a door, if someone is the face, someone must be the inside." However, Sam, who used to have both face and inside, is still struggling with face and inside. It's really hard to say.

If we continue to run blindly like this, in two years, when people mention Sam's Club, they may not think of a "middle-class amusement park", but a "membership system crash scene".

After all, for ordinary people, compared to health and safety, superficial and prestigious identity labels are really nothing.

*The image is from the internet and has been hacked and deleted