Husi meat scandal just the tip of the iceberg, says exec

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-07-22

The factory of Husi Food Co in Shanghai, July 21. (Photo/CNS)

A Shanghai-based meat supplier has been caught selling allegedly expired chicken and beef to fast-food restaurants in China, including McDonald's and KFC, after which a former executive of a multinational food company said the incident is merely the tip of the iceberg of the problem in the industry, according to Shanghai's China Business News.

Shanghai-based Husi Food Co is accused of having mixed a large amount of expired chicken skin and chicken breasts to make McDonald's Chicken McNuggets. The expired meat was minced by machines before being covered with three layers of flour and deep fried into McNuggets.

In addition, the report said, Husi would change the expiration date on the packaging of its meat, telling its workers to store expired meat for production or asking them to mix expired meat with fresh cuts.

Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC and Pizza Hut, said the company is taking the report very seriously and will respond as soon as it has fully understood the situation.

McDonald's said it has asked its restaurants in China to stop using meat supplied by Husi and has formed a task force to look into the matter.

A former executive of a multinational food company that supplied KFC and McDonald's said that such a situation is common in the industry.

Husi is the Chinese arm of US-based supplier OSI, founded in 1909. OSI is the designated global supplier for top fast-food chains, including McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut.

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