© Reuters / Michael Caronna Chinese fast food restaurants have pulled meat products from their menus in response to a health scandal involving Husi Food Co Ltd
On Tuesday, Starbucks said some of its cafes previously sold products containing chicken originally sourced from Shanghai supplier Husi Food Co Ltd, Reuters reports. Starbucks says it removed from shelves sandwiches made with chicken that originated at Husi.
McDonald's apologized on Monday to Chinese customers for apparently using rotten chicken and beef from Husi in its products, and has admitted that Japan branches have also sourced meat from the Shanghai company since 2002. The fast-food chain said it stopped selling chicken McNuggets supplied by Husi at more than 1,300 outlets across Japan.
Comment: Who can say how long this meat has been tainted? What about other suppliers?
Burger King and Pizza chain Papa John's have also stopped using the Husi meat products.
Husi's food processing plant in Shanghai was closed on Sunday by the China Food and Drug Administration after a TV expose showed workers using expired meat and picking up meat dropped on the floor to use as part of its products.
In China, McDonald's and Yum Brands which owns KFC and Pizza Hut were first to be affected. Yum's KFC is China's biggest restaurant chain, with more than 4,000 outlets and plans to open 700 more this year. Both McDonald's and Yum have 7.6 percent of Chinese food market.
In a statement, Husi said it would cooperate with the investigation and promised to share the results with the public, AP reports.
"Our company management believes this to be an isolated event, but takes full responsibility for the situation and will take appropriate action swiftly and comprehensively," Husi said
Comment: From Reuters:
Yum Brands Inc severed ties with OSI Group after Shanghai police detained five people from the supplier's China meat-processing factory at the center of a food-safety scare that has ensnared several major Western brands.The only way to protect yourself from fast food negligence is to avoid it altogether.
Shanghai police said on Wednesday the five individuals being held included the head of Shanghai Husi Food Co Ltd as well as its quality manager.
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DOCTORED RECORDS
Xinhua also cited Gu Zhenhua, deputy head of the Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration, as saying that Shanghai Husi's controls systems and records for suspected products violated Chinese regulations.
In the Dragon TV documentary on Sunday, staff at the Shanghai Husi facility said they kept two record books on food products, one of which was doctored to be shown to anyone who came to audit the facility. According to the report, which claimed to show an inspection of the facility by McDonald's, Shanghai Husi staff learned of the visit a day in advance and made sure that only compliant products were being processed on the day.
The Shanghai food watchdog also said it had sealed more than 1,000 tonnes of suspected meat products from OSI in China and another 100 tonnes of products from various customers.
Rotten meat, whether cooked or not, has a distinct smell. Granted if youve never smelled good meat before youd never know the difference, but how can one ignore 'that'?
Lmfao!!