Meat scandal shakes China's fast food industry

Photo taken on July 21 shows a fast food chain store in Taiyuan, Shanxi prvince. [Photo: China News Service / Zhang Yun]

Foreign fast-food brands in China are in hot water following allegations that a Shanghai meat processing plant was supplying out-of-date meat and mislabeling expiration dates.

The scandal took on even more prominence on Tuesday following shocking revelations that Shanghai Husi Food Co., Ltd has been conducting the malpractice for years.

Zhang Hui, manager of Husi's quality department, said during investigations that such meat had been produced under tacit approval of the company's senior managers.

Shanghai-based Dragon TV aired a news program on Sunday, claiming that Husi had supplied products tainted with reprocessed out-of-date meat to a string of fast food chains and restaurants across China.

McDonald's issued a statement over the alleged malpractice, saying it had stopped using all food materials supplied by Husi. Yum Brands Inc. also said its KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants had stopped using meat supplied by the firm.

KFC also said some of its restaurants in south China's Fujian Province will stop selling certain products.

Sandwich chain Subway said its restaurants do not use Husi meat products while fast food chain Dicos, owned by Taiwan's Ting Hsin International Group, said it has stopped selling products containing ham supplied by Husi.

Meanwhile, Swedish home furnishing retailer IKEA said Husi was a meat supplier for the retailer from September 2012 to August 2013. It no longer provides food products to IKEA.

Experts say that the expose will damage foreign fast-food brands in China, which have been implicated in a number of food safety scandals involving suppliers over the years.