Yum, McDonald's apologize as new China food scandal brews

[unhappycamper]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-yum-brands-food-safety-20140720,0,6432985.story



A woman holding an ice cream walks out of a KFC restaurant in Beijing

Yum, McDonald's apologize as new China food scandal brews
Reuters
6:21 a.m. CDT, July 21, 2014

McDonald's Corp. and Yum Brands Inc. are facing a new food safety scare in China, denting the fast food giants' efforts to shore up reputations and businesses that were hurt by a 2012 safety scandal in one of their biggest markets.

McDonald's and KFC-parent Yum apologized to customers on Monday after Chinese regulators shut a local meat supplier following a TV report that showed workers picking up meat from a factory floor, as well as mixing meat beyond its expiration date with fresh meat. The firms said they'll stop using the supplier.

The report, which focused on McDonald's and Yum, brings the pair back into the firing line following the 2012 scandal that involved chicken pumped with excessive amounts of antibiotics. It's unclear whether the meat supplier, a local unit of U.S.-based food provider OSI Group LLC, may have sold goods to other clients too.

Yum has just begun to bounce back from the 2012 scare in its No. 1 market, while McDonald's said on its China site it may now face a product shortfall in its third-biggest market by store numbers. The pair are the top two by sales in China's $174 billion fast food market, according to Euromonitor, but face a challenge as local firms try to tempt cost-conscious diners with healthy, homegrown fare.

[merrily]

1. I wonder how you say "ewwwww" in Chinese.

US-based OSI Group, LLC. Remember that name.

[Duppers]

2. My McBurger in Shanghai

tasted much better than the few McD's I've eaten in the States. Wonder what they're getting away with here?

Just saying.

[Enthusiast]

3. You don't want to know.

Soylent Green is already in widespread use. I kid. Maybe.