China KFC and McDonald’s Restaurants Halt Use Of Shanghai Husi Food Meat
Both KFC and McDonald’s restaurants in China have quit using meat that comes from a Shanghai company upon media reports that the supplier allegedly uses expired chicken and beef, which triggered local food safety officials to begin an investigation.
The program aired Sunday on Shanghai-based Dragon TV, which showed secret camera footage of meat-processing facility workers with Shanghai Husi Food using expired beef and chicken to create burger patties and chicken food for both restaurants. There were some cases in the footage that workers could be seen picking up meat that had dropped to the assembly line floor and tossing it back onto the processing machine.
Both companies for the Chinese units said, in a press release on their official social messaging account, they would not be using products from Shanghai Husi. Aurora, Ill.-based OSI Group owns Shanghai Husi.
In its Sina Weibo post, the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration said it suspended the Shanghai Husi’s production and started a joint investigation with local police to look the accusations that it was using expired meat for its products.
In the last several years, Chinese people have been really concerned with food safety. Nationwide scandals have erupted after it was revealed that products like cooking oil and infant formula were tainted.
And, once thought to have better quality control standards, Yum Brands-owned KFC along with McDonald’s has been caught up with these scandals.
For instance, in late 2012, Yum saw a drop in its sales in China after multiple state media reports said it was using chickens that were tainted with an excessive amount of antibiotics. The company has 6,200 restaurants in China and attributes to nearly $7 billion of the company’s $13 billion in revenue for 2013. The company also owns Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.
The newest scandal shows Shanghai Husi workers using two-week old expired chicken meat along with beef that was more than six months past its expiration date. The report said meat-processing facility worker hit the expired meat supplies as inspectors for McDonald’s carried out their audit. Once inspectors left, the workers started using the expired product again.
OSI China General Manager Yang Liqun said the company employs a strict quality-control system and would be accommodating during the investigation.
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