McDonald's, Yum Suspend Meat Supplier in China

[ameriken]

McDonald's, Yum Suspend Meat Supplier in China

 

OSI's Shanghai Husi 'Appalled' by Allegation That Chicken, Beef Was Past Expiration Date

 

BEIJING—The U.S. owner of a meat supplier in Shanghai apologized and promised a swift response Monday after McDonald's Corp. MCD -1.79% and Yum Brands Inc. YUM +1.19% suspended purchases in China in the wake of allegations it sold expired chicken and beef to restaurants.

 

 

McDonald's and Yum, parent of KFC and Pizza Hut, said they halted orders from Shanghai Husi Food Co., owned by OSI Group Inc. of Aurora Ill., after local Chinese media reported that Shanghai Husi was selling meat products beyond their shelf life.

 

 

OSI, a longtime supplier to both fast-food companies, said its executives were "appalled" by the report and apologized to its customers and consumers. The company "has formed an investigation team, is fully cooperating with inspections being conducted by relevant, supervising government agencies, and is also conducting its own internal review," it said.

 

http://online.wsj.com/articles/yum-b...ier-1405913128

[Thomas Promise]

McDonald's, Yum Suspend Meat Supplier in China

 

OSI's Shanghai Husi 'Appalled' by Allegation That Chicken, Beef Was Past Expiration Date

 

BEIJING—The U.S. owner of a meat supplier in Shanghai apologized and promised a swift response Monday after McDonald's Corp. MCD -1.79% and Yum Brands Inc. YUM +1.19% suspended purchases in China in the wake of allegations it sold expired chicken and beef to restaurants.

 

 

McDonald's and Yum, parent of KFC and Pizza Hut, said they halted orders from Shanghai Husi Food Co., owned by OSI Group Inc. of Aurora Ill., after local Chinese media reported that Shanghai Husi was selling meat products beyond their shelf life.

 

 

OSI, a longtime supplier to both fast-food companies, said its executives were "appalled" by the report and apologized to its customers and consumers. The company "has formed an investigation team, is fully cooperating with inspections being conducted by relevant, supervising government agencies, and is also conducting its own internal review," it said.

 

http://online.wsj.com/articles/yum-b...ier-1405913128

 

The seller of Pink Slime and Wizzard of Oz foods are not showing real results now.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/22/investing/mcdonalds-earnings-disappoint/index.html?iid=Lead

[ameriken]

The seller of Pink Slime and Wizzard of Oz foods are not showing real results now.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/22/investing/mcdonalds-earnings-disappoint/index.html?iid=Lead

 

 

I guess people are getting tired of wood pulp.

 

 

From McDonald's To Organic Valley, You're Probably Eating Wood Pulp

by ALLISON AUBREY

July 10, 2014 3:29 AM ET

 

Do not be alarmed, but you may be eating wood pulp. Or at least an additive that started out as wood.

If you buy shredded cheeses, including brands such as Organic Valley and Sargento, or hit the drive-through at McDonald's for a breakfast sandwich or a smoothie, or douse some ribs with bottled barbecue sauce, there's likely some cellulose that's been added to your food.

 

Cellulose is basically plant fiber, and one of the most common sources is wood pulp. Manufacturers grind up the wood and extract the cellulose.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/07/10/329767647/from-mcdonalds-to-organic-valley-youre-probably-eating-wood-pulp

 

 

[Randy W]

China seals McDonald's, KFC supplies after scandal

 

Officials in the two cities said the chains had voluntarily stopped selling the affected products and sealed their Husi supplies after the scandal broke out.

 

Other provincial-level regions, including Guangdong, Guangxi and Inner Mongolia, have also reported sealing the products and ordered companies to stop selling products supplied by Husi.

 

McDonald's said some of its restaurants might face a supply shortage in a statement released on Monday.

 

[Randy W]

Blame shifting - notice that the company in question here is a Chinese company. Only one Chinese restaurant is mentioned - Dico's, a Taiwan-based company.

 

Xinhua Insight: Meat scandal shakes China's fast food industry

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.

 

. . .

 

Xia added that poor quality supervision is to blame. "Why did KFC and McDonald's turn bad after they came to China?"

 

. . .

 

"The case may drive many away to local fast-food competitors," Xia said.

 

 

But that is a good point about quality control standards of the Western fast food companies

[Greg.D.]

Husi Food Co. Is a private, American company. But I question that they can function in China without forming a partnership with locals.

 

I feel strongly this is a singling-out of foreign companies for propaganda purposes, very common. Still, no matter who was responsible for SOPs being ignored, the parent company is to blame because such shortcuts and transgressions should have been predicted and expected. Without a doubt.

 

This is why I buy raw food and cook it myself,

 

Greg

[Randy W]

Husi Food Co. Is a private, American company. But I question that they can function in China without forming a partnership with locals.

 

I feel strongly this is a singling-out of foreign companies for propaganda purposes, very common. Still, no matter who was responsible for SOPs being ignored, the parent company is to blame because such shortcuts and transgressions should have been predicted and expected. Without a doubt.

 

This is why I buy raw food and cook it myself,

 

Greg

 

 

As the article points out, they also sell to Dico's (a Chinese fast food chain), as well as other Japanese restaurants

 

 

Five held in China food scandal probe, including head of Shanghai Husi Food

 

The five detained include the head of the company - Shanghai Husi Food Co Ltd, a unit of U.S.-based OSI Group LLC - and the firm's quality manager, the police said in an online statement.

McDonald's and Yum Brands Inc, the parent company of KFC and Pizza Hut, and a number of other global brands have pulled products from their outlets after it emerged that Shanghai Husi supplied expired meat to clients in China, as well as Japan.

 

 

The OSI Group is a private American company, but I'm fairly certain that Shanghai Husi would have to be a Chinese company - I don't see any names, but I expect the 5 being held are Chinese nationals - and that the transgression which occurred was completely the responsibility of the Chinese plant.

 

I believe the allegation is that they were instructed by management in their actions

 

Illinois-based OSI has said it was "appalled" and was investigating the matter after a Chinese TV report on Sunday showed staff at its Shanghai Husi facility using expired meat and picking up meat from the floor to add to the mix.

 

 

A factory worker at another of OSI's food processing plants in the northern Chinese province of Hebei told Reuters on Wednesday that regulations were very strict at the plant, that all workers needed to wear special clothes, and that spot checks were often held unannounced.

"The inspections are done by everyone: our own company, the government and also clients like McDonald's. Our rules are very strict and food safety standards are very high," said the worker, surnamed Wei, as he took a break at a nearby supermarket.

He added that the Hebei factory, which processes meat, vegetables and flour products according to its website, was still open for business despite government inspections.

 

 

So I think the Xinhua article is an attempt to shift focus from the Chinese company (Shanghai Husi) to its American clients (especially Yum and MacDonald's) for "lax supervision" - either People's Daily or Xinhua has a poll asking whether you will ever buy food from KFC or MacD's again - the "No"s are well in the lead.

[Mick]

Our old friend Serpentza for YouTube mentions this in his latest upload. He states the meat involved was over a year old:

 

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

This isn't surprising at all. You have to remember that it's China. Anyone who takes a walk on the streets of any Chinese city will find vomit in the gutter, walk path, or beneath you on the bench you are sitting. Take a walk through one of the street markets, or grocery stores and you will find spoiled food and meat everywhere. It would be unwise to eat in China and also have the expectation that what eat will not make you violently ill.

[Mick]

This isn't surprising at all. You have to remember that it's China. Anyone who takes a walk on the streets of any Chinese city will find vomit in the gutter, walk path, or beneath you on the bench you are sitting. Take a walk through one of the street markets, or grocery stores and you will find spoiled food and meat everywhere. It would be unwise to eat in China and also have the expectation that what eat will not make you violently ill.

 

Been there and done that, Jesse. I am absolutely amazed that I didn't get sick a thousand times over during my five plus years living there. I only got violently ill one time and it came from eating a bad squid during the spring festival time when most of the campus eateries were shut down. I wound up eating at a place I normally didn't go. And yes, I know what you mean about seeing spoiled food everywhere. Down in Guangdong where we lived, the heat and humidity took a quick toll on anything lying about. And there were flies everywhere. I don't just limit this to China, though. I saw places in Nam that were far worse, as sell as some in Thailand and there were places in India I would not eat in under any circumstance, and I love Indian food.

[ameriken]

My wife was telling me she avoids street vendors....the story goes that those who are selling lamb skewers are not really lamb but some lesser quality meat (cat, rat, fox?) soaked in lamb urine to give it the taste of lamb.

[ameriken]

Goat urine duck meat[edit]

Businesses in Qingdao, Shandong have been caught marinating duck meat in goat or sheep urine to give the duck the smell and taste of lamb. The duck is then sold as lamb to customers.^[72]

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_safety_incidents_in_China}

 

[Mick]

 

Goat urine duck meat[edit]

Businesses in Qingdao, Shandong have been caught marinating duck meat in goat or sheep urine to give the duck the smell and taste of lamb. The duck is then sold as lamb to customers.^[72]

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_safety_incidents_in_China}

 

 

 

Even marinated in sheep pee, it seems to me that it would be hard to pass off duck for mutton. Texture and taste a quite different.

[Randy W]

from the South China Morning Post

 

Shanghai food watchdog targets foreign firms in meat clean-up

Shanghai is singling out foreign fast-food chains in its stepped-up efforts to strengthen oversight of meat suppliers, a fresh sign that a food safety scandal involving a US company could worsen problems for overseas businesses on the mainland.

 

The Shanghai Food and Drug Administration said last weekend that five foreign fast-food chains caught up in a rotten meat scare had to publish the names and information of their meat suppliers online for public scrutiny. Those five companies were McDonald's, Yum Brands, Burger King, Dicos and Carl's Jr, all of which have complied with the orders. Papa John's Pizza was also told to release the details and was in the process of doing so, an officer from the administration said.

 

. . .

 

"The policy was aimed at only foreign companies - domestic food suppliers have yet to be required to do so," the officer said.

 

. . .

 

"It's an open secret that tainted food is everywhere in China and it's also understood that foreign firms like Husi are relatively better at controlling food quality than all of their Chinese counterparts. But the local authorities obviously want to take this opportunity to punish foreign companies," Chen said.