Fast food giants in China deny using chicken raised on poisonous feed

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2012-11-26

A KFC store in Shanghai. (File photo/Xinhua)

Representatives of food giants KFC and McDonald's in China have pushed back on claims that they use broiler chickens raised on feed infused with harmful chemicals and hormones to accelerate their growth.

According to a report from the Hong Kong-based China Review News, KFC, McDonald's and a number of large supermarkets in China are supplied by Shanxi Suhai Group, a northern Chinese company specializing in the mass production of broiler chickens that have a lifespan of only 45 days.

The entire breeding, rearing and production process is operated in bulk, the article said, producing five or six batches of chicken a year with each chick earning the company around 2-3 yuan (US$0.32-0.48) in profit.

Shanxi Suhai told China Review News that the rapid development of the chicks is achieved not through growth hormones but through breeding, feed, and rearing conditions. A chick in one of its sheds eats three types of feed during its short life, the company said. The first round of feed, lasting 10 days, is for nutrition, followed by a second segment to help them develop longer bones. The third feed, provided in the final 15 days, is to help them put on two or three ounces of meat a day.

Reporters who visited Shanxi Suhai's factories described an odorous environment filled with industrial salt and choline chloride. Workers on site claim that the feed is mixed with hazardous medicines and preservatives that kill all the flies in the area.

Shanxi Suhai claims that the industrial salt is used to soften the water fed to the chicks while choline chloride is a permissible additive to chicken feed under Chinese regulations. The company added that feeding antibiotics to chicken is also an acceptable practice and that any harm to human health is so miniscule that it can be ignored.

A contractor for the company explained that as each shed is crammed with 5,000 chicks, it is very easy for contagious diseases to spread and that medicines must constantly be used to strengthen their immune systems.

A spokesperson for KFC clarified its relationship with Shanxi Suhai, claiming that the company only supplied 1% of its materials and adding that it has a clean safety record. McDonald's on the other hand, said that Shanxi Suhai is not one of its suppliers.

An industry insider said the speed of growth of the broiler chicks depends largely on the breed, and that advancements in modern technology means that some breeds can be ready for consumption just 30 days after birth. The insider also suspected that some of the "medicines" mentioned in the article could only be vitamins.

"Usually medicines are stopped seven days before slaughter and are completely metabolized before hitting the market," he said.