Confidence in US fast food dented after meat scandal

Toothless food safety law to be revamped with heavier penalties

Consumers' already-low confidence in food safety has been dented yet again after a Shanghai-based subsidiary of US food provider OSI Group was found to have sold expired and rotting meat to fast food giants, including McDonald's and KFC.

Workers at Shanghai Husi Food Co mixed "expired" meat with fresh and lied to inspectors from McDonald's, according to a report from the Shanghai-based Dragon TV after an undercover reporter spent two months as a worker in the factory, which processes meat and poultry products. Husi supplied many fast food restaurants in Shanghai.

Television footage showed workers in white suits picking up meat from the floor and directly putting it back onto the food processing assembly line. Tons of out-of-date meat was used for the company's products and some meat patties were eight months past the expiration date.

Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration have sealed the plant and ordered production to be suspended after the investigative report aired Sunday.

The administration is further investigating the company affiliated with the OSI Group, the American Illinois-based food processing conglomerate, and it vowed severe punishment if the reported wrongdoings are verified.

Husi began to supply meat products for McDonald's in 1992 and KFC and Pizza Hut in 2008, according to the company website. However, media reports revealed that the company's supply chain goes further to more fast food restaurants, such as Ikea and Chinese fast food restaurant Dicos.

McDonald's public relations managers in Beijing and Shanghai told the Global Times that they had stopped using the factory's products immediately the report was aired. The Shanghai manager added that some restaurants in Shanghai may be out of stock of pork and beef patties as well as chicken meat products.

Yum! Brands Inc has demanded its subsidiaries KFC and Pizza Hut stop using Husi meat products. Two types of burger at KFC and one type of beef served at Pizza Hut will be out of stock. KFC also said in its official statement Monday that only a few branches in Fujian Province may be affected, while Ikea said it stopped using the company's product at its cafes in September 2013.

OSI Group said Monday it was "appalled" by the incident but stressed that it was an "isolated event."

"We have zero tolerance for any actions that compromise food safety," the company said on its website.

The latest food scandal has hit a nerve in China, after the food processing industry has been subject to many safety-related scandals in recent years. More than 68 percent of nearly 17,000 respondents said they would not buy food from McDonalds, KFC or Pizza Hut, according to a survey on Sina Weibo as of press time. Many Net users appeared to blame the restaurants, rather than the supplier.

One of the most popular McDonald's branches near Nanjing Donglu in downtown Shanghai saw only about 20 customers in the restaurant at about 5:30 pm Monday. Most chicken products were unavailable.

However, the KFC restaurant nearby was still full of customers at a time when many workers were heading home from work. A number of customers, who are inured to frequent safety scares, said they feel restaurants are safest in the wake of a scandal.

In 2012, KFC restaurants in China were also hit by accusations that its suppliers used excessive amounts of antibiotics in its chicken products, and two farms near Shanghai which supplied it were shut down by local authorities.

In May, 2013, the Ministry of Public Security announced they had detained over 900 people for "meat-related offenses," including passing off fox, mink and rat as mutton.

Zhu Yi, an associate professor of food science at China Agricultural University, said that this case should force change and that law enforcement authorities should keep a closer eye on large and overseas companies.

"It's widely believed that those companies are trustworthy in comparison with [domestic] manufacturers. Even inspectors may go easy on them, believing they are self-disciplined," Zhu said.

Zhu added that fast food chains are also required to check the quality of the supplied products upon delivery, but they tend to trust big-name suppliers.

China's current Food Safety Law is regarded as toothless, with fines for selling expired food only up to 50,000 yuan ($8,005) if the value of the food product is less than 10,000 yuan. Otherwise the penalty will rise to 10 times the food value.

In the wake of previous scandals, the law is to be revamped.

Under new amendments, the penalty will be increased to up to 30 times the product's value. The draft law is open for public comment until the end of July.

The frequent food scandals in China reflect the low cost to companies of law violations, said Li Shuguang, a professor at the School of Public Health at Shanghai's Fudan University.

"The law should be strong enough to shock and deter, so that people are not willing, capable, or dare to break it," Li said.