Warc, 24 July 2014
SHANGHAI: Up to 69% of Chinese consumers say they will no
longer eat at a Western fast-food restaurant after poor practices have emerged
at a US-owned food supplier to KFC and McDonald's.
This was one of the key findings in an online poll of 25,000
people by news portal Sina Shanghai, South China Morning Post reported.
The poll also revealed that over three-quarters (77%)
thought the Western brands were aware of what was happening at the Shanghai
Husi Food Company, which a weekend TV report revealed to be processing meat
beyond its expiry date.
An investigation has been launched by the Shanghai Food and
Drug Administration and both KFC and McDonald's released a statement
emphasising that they have halted use of all products from Shanghai Husi.
This is another setback for KFC, which had been working to
improve its image in China after another scandal in December 2012 revealed it
had served chicken containing unapproved levels of antibiotics.
Meanwhile, US coffee chain Starbucks, Burger King, Pizza
Hut, Swedish furniture chain Ikea and Chinese fast-food chain Dicos all sought
to provide clarity about food they had received from Husi.
Starbucks said its only affected product was a chicken and
apple panini sandwich while Ikea used its Weibo account to say it had
previously sourced meat from Husi but stopped in September, the Financial Times
reported.
And in a further development, it emerged that the plant also
supplied meat for about a fifth of the Chicken McNuggets sold by McDonald's in
Japan, prompting the Japanese authorities to announce that imports will be
blocked and they will take "firm measures to ensure food safety".
Data sourced from South China Morning Post, Shanghaiist,
Financial Times; additional content by Warc
No comments:
Post a Comment