Beijing Subway accused of selling out-of-date food

An outlet of fast-food chain Subway in Beijing is alleged to have changed the production and expiry dates on its food in order to sell out-of-date produce.

According to a report published Friday in the Legal Evening News, workers swapped old labels on food products for new ones with amended dates.

The newspaper claimed it had conducted a 4-month undercover operation at the company's Xihaiguoji outlet, which is frequented by local office workers.

The newspaper claimed that one employee wrote a label stating that the production date of a batch of food was October 8, when it had actually expired the day before. The expiry date was changed to October 10.

The newspaper claimed that the same worker labeled several packages of vegetables and meat.

According to the newspaper, inspectors from Subway visited the branch every month to monitor hygiene conditions, food storage facilities and sales.

The inspectors recorded details of any failings, but did not notice the amended labels, the report said.

The newspaper also claimed that the outlet sold bread that was more than 24 hours old.

The loaves — some of which became stale — were left in the outlet overnight and used the following day, it said.

Workers would deliberately sell the old bread first, it claimed.

The fast-food company, however, denied the claim it sold old bread.

The report claimed the company did not respond to questions about the changes to the production and expiry date labels.

The Food and Drug Administration of Haidian District in Beijing said that it will investigate the claims made by the Legal Evening News.