Jul 23, 2014
Food Stalls violating FDA rules, unhygienic conditions at KTC Canteen at Margao bus stand
GOACAN recently conducted an inspection of the Food stalls and Canteen located at the KTC Busstand Margao after receiving complaints from consumers that food items were being sold in violation of the rules prescribed by Directorate of Food & Drug Administration (DFDA) and the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
GOACAN found that food items like samosas etc. were being sold without proper covering to prevent flies from sitting on them while packaged food items like chakkli etc. are being brought from Udipi (Karnataka) without having the proper address and DFDA / FSSAI licence while the seller displayed the TIN number as that to be Registration under DFDA / FSSAI licence.
Packaged food items originating from Borim, Ponda were being sold without the mandated DFDA / FSSAI licence while various other food items like coconut sweets and puranpolli are being sold in sealed packets without any label showing the name, address, date of manufacture & expiry and even the MRP.
GOACAN found that food items like rice plate / meals were being served in a dining room which is not clean & tidy while these meals were being prepared in a kitchen under unhygienic conditions. Rain water which was leaking from the roof of the kitchen was falling in the vessels while rice plate/meals were being cooked. While the rooms where the raw materials were being stored and the vegetables cut were maintained in unhygienic conditions and the staff undertaking the cooking in the kitchen were not using proper clothing as
required under the DFDA / FSSAI rules.
GOACAN has sent a letter to Mr. Salim Veljee, Director, Directorate of Food & Drug Admin (DFDA) stating that as the food stalls & canteen have a prime location at the KTC bus stand they get customers who are drivers, conductors and the general public which gives them good business. GOACAN has further pointed out this prime location cannot be used by these stall owners & canteen contractor to sell food items and provide meals to consumers by not following the Food Safety laws as prescribed by the DFDA / FSSAI.
GOACAN has further stated that although these issues were highlighted in 2010 through complaints and joint inspections by officials from various departments the situation has not improved.
GOACAN has called on the DFDA to protect the interests of consumers by taking the necessary steps so that a solution may be found by 15th August. Copies of the letter have been sent to the Collector (South) & Chairperson District Consumer Protection Council, Dy. Collector (Margao), Director, Department of Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Controller, Department of Legal Metrology and Managing Director, Kadamba Transport Corporation Ltd.
Clarification by Amul on a WhatsApp image opens a can of worms; Is FSSAI in-cahoots with Amul in cheating consumers?
NEW DELHI, July 22: An image of Amul, a major Indian dairy brand, milk pouch being circulated on WhatsApp and other social media channels on Monday forced the company to post a clarification on Facebook. However, the clarification has put the company in wrong side of the law. For, Amul is milking and befooling Indian consumers by flouting the regulations of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Amul is an Indian dairy cooperative, based at Anand in the state of Gujarat, India.
It all started on 21 July, 2014 with an image of Amul Gold milk pouch bearing date 23 Jul 14 on the seal area. The message that was being circulated on WhatsApp with the Amul milk pouch read: "Today is 21 July, 2014 but this milk was packed on 23 July, 2014!! Think how fresh this milk could be?"
The image spread like a fire in the jungle and when it reached up to Amul, the company posted a clarification on its Facebook page, with the WhatsApp image and an additional image, that read: "Dear our esteemed customers! This is in response to the picture of Amul Pouch Milk packet currently being circulated on WhatsApp and other social media channels.
Wish to inform you that under current FSSAI regulations- Food products, having shelf life of less than 7 days, should have to print the "use by date" on their packing's.
So, 23rd July'2014 is the use by date and not the packing date. This information is also printed on the packets (please see attached). Thanks!"
The attached photo with this post shows a packet of Amul milk on which an area is circled that read: "For Batch no. & "Use by date" see seal/stamp area"
The company didn't provide any hyperlink or uploaded any file to back its claim that "under current FSSAI regulations- Food products, having shelf life of less than 7 days, should have to print the "use by date" on their packing"
However, company's clarification made it clear that Amul has been giving information on its milk packets that is not required and has not been declaring the information that is required.
Clause 8 (Lot/Code/Batch identification) of FSSAI the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India Notification dated the 1st August, 2011, says: "A batch number or code number or lot number which is a mark of identification by which the food can be traced in the manufacture and identified in the distribution, shall be given on the label. Provided that in case of packages containing bread and milk including sterilized milk, particulars under this clause shall not be required to be given on the label."
Therefore, the company is not required to give batch number on its milk packets. However, Amul is not doing what it is supposed to do under FSSAI regulations.
Clause 9 (Date of manufacture or packing) of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India Notification dated the 1st August, 2011, says: "The date, month and year in which the commodity is manufactured, packed or pre-packed, shall be given on the label: Provided that the month and the year of manufacture, packing or pre-packing shall be given if the "Best Before Date" of the products is more than three months: Provided further that in case any package contains commodity which has a short shelf life of less than three months, the date, month and year in which the commodity is manufactured or prepared or pre-packed shall be mentioned on the label."
Amul doesn't print date of manufacture or packing on its milk packets. As per the company's Facebook post, the date on Amul milk packets is actually the use by date and not the packing date. So, going by Amul's claims and FSSAI notification it can be construed that the shelf life of Amul milk is more than three months!
Now, the ball is in the court of Amul and FSSAI and they should come up the supportive documents to prove that (i) milk packets need to have batch number printed, (ii) only 'Use by Date' is required to be printed on milk packets not the 'Date of manufacture or Packing', and (iii) the above Gazette Notification is wrong. If it can't be done then a serious question arises: Is FSSAI in-cahoots with Amul in cheating consumers? It is the Right of consumers to know how old milk is being supplied to them by Amul or other dairy product companies.
Bill will be drafted to curb food adulteration menace: Health minister
The health ministry would soon draft a Bill in order to curb the increasing number of food adulteration cases across India.
In a telephonic conversation with FnB News, health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan stated, “We are also planning to draft a strict Bill on food safety law in consultation with the ministries of food processing industries, consumer affairs, food and public administration, commerce and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the country's apex food regulator, to curb food adulteration in the country. It would be approved by the Cabinet and enacted in Parliament.”
“The new Bill would draft a stringent action against those found to be involved in food adulteration. Prosecution and fines will be imposed against the culprits. FSSAI, in order to succeed in its role as a watchdog for food standards, would have to equip it with the required resources like manpower and finance, so that it may uphold the cause of public health,” he added.
“In consultation with FSSAI, we would form an advisory committee, which would be headed by the food minister and include other ministries like the health, food processing and agriculture ministries, which would assist to implement the new Act efficiently and monitor the activities of all the food traders to prevent the food adulteration in the country,” said Dr Vardhan.
He added, “The stern provisions of the law would not be enough to stop food adulteration, but its success would depend on the strict enforcement of that law. We have framed many good laws, but they often fail to successfully combat many social menaces because of the lack of enforcement. To be instrumental in stopping food adulteration, we would have to implement the law with strict enforcement as soon as possible.”
According to data available with the government, over 20 per cent of the food items served in hotels, restaurants and fast food outlets across the country are either of sub-standard quality or adulterated.
The adulterated and sub-standard quality food cases are on the rise across the country, and the data clearly proved that out of 46,283 food samples, which include milk, milk products, edible oil and spice samples collected and sent for tests to various government laboratories in 2013-14, as many as 9,265 samples were found to be adulterated and misbranded.
As far as adulterated or sub-standard food is concerned, the leading state is Uttar Pradesh. In 2013-14, about 2,930 vendors were prosecuted, and as many as 1,919 of them convicted, while in 2012-13 about 2,551 cases were registered, and there were convictions in 1,010 cases. The food safety department of the northern state collected fines worth over Rs 9 crore in the two financial years.
Maharashtra is in second place. The state FDA carried out 2,557 prosecutions and convicted 66 offenders. Haryana was third, with 260 cases in 2013-14; 166 convictions and fines worth Rs 27 lakh being imposed on the offenders. Uttarakhand registered 122 food adulteration cases, Jharkhand 99, Bihar 90 and Delhi 61. The fines imposed on offenders in these four states exceeded Rs 12 crore.
When quizzed about the steps to be taken by the health ministry in order to curb food adulteration, Dr Vardhan informed, “We keep regular checks on food products and are also concerned about the health of the consumers.”
“The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the country's apex food regulator, undertakes regular surveillance, monitoring and sampling of food products under the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006 in order to eliminate the food adulteration in the country,” he added.
“State food safety officers collect random samples of food items and send it to the laboratories recognised by the FSSAI for analysis, and in cases where samples do not meet or not conform to the provisions of the Act, actions are been taken against those offenders,” he added.
China detains five in expired meat scandal: Police
Beijing: Chinese police on Wednesday detained five people from a unit of US food supplier OSI Group, a statement said, in a case involving expired meat sold to fast food giants including McDonald's and KFC.
The Shanghai Public Security Bureau said the five included the company officials responsible. It said a quality manager was among them but did not name the five.
Shanghai authorities on Sunday shut an OSI plant for mixing out-of-date meat with fresh product, re-labelling expired goods and other quality problems, following an investigative report by a local television station.
The case has sparked calls for stronger regulation in a country which has seen repeated scandals over food and product safety.
The factory's other customers in China included restaurant operator Yum's Pizza Hut brand, coffee chain Starbucks, Burger King, 7-Eleven convenience stores and Papa John's Pizza, according to separate statements from the companies.
Outside mainland China, McDonald's Japan has confirmed it sourced about 20 percent of its McNuggets from the Shanghai factory. Police acting "according to the law" detained the five from the Shanghai Husi Food Co., the statement said, referring to the OSI subsidiary which operated the factory.
Media reports had previously said police were questioning "several" employees. Shanghai television has shown a man described as the quality manager and another manager in meetings with government officials in the days after the closure.
China's official Xinhua news agency said police suspected Husi of taking "organised" action to carry out illegal production.
Police and Shanghai's food and drug agency had found out-of-date meat was used to make chicken nuggets and beef patties, as well as expired and mouldy beef for mini-steaks, it said.
OSI said on Monday that it was "appalled" by the allegations and announced it had formed its own team to investigate.
OSI's Shanghai factory, set up in 1996, had more than 500 workers with five production lines for items including pork, beef and chicken, according to the group's website.
The US company is a long-time supplier to McDonald's in China, starting from 1992, it said.
McDonald's chief executive Don Thompson said Tuesday that his company was cooperating with Chinese authorities who are investigating OSI.
"In this case, we do feel we were a bit deceived with respect to one of these plants," he said, as the company announced second-quarter results.
China's national-level food and drug administration has ordered an investigation of OSI's factories, which includes facilities in at least five provinces.
Responding to the latest food safety scandal to hit China, state-run media have taken aim at foreign brands, accusing them of double standards.
"Famous international brands have not adopted a dedicated attitude toward Chinese consumers," the Global Times newspaper said Tuesday.
Five held in China food scandal probe, after uproar over video showing workers mishandling meat
Shanghai police said on Wednesday they detained five people in an investigation into a Chinese-based supplier of foreign fast-food brands, including KFC, McDonald's Corp and coffee chain Starbucks Corp, over allegations the firm supplied old and rotten meat.
The five detained include the head of the company - Shanghai Husi Food Co Ltd, a unit of US-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.
Earlier, the official Xinhua news agency cited the Shanghai food and drug watchdog as saying that food safety violations at Shanghai Husi were company-led rather than the acts of individuals. "We discovered that some of the company's illegal behaviour was not the behaviour of individuals, but rather an organised arrangement by the company," Xinhua reported Gu Zhenhua, deputy head of the Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration, as saying.
ALSO READ: Yum, McDonald's apologise after footage showing workers picking up meat from floor surfaces
In a separate statement, the Shanghai food watchdog said it sealed more than 1,000 tonnes of suspected meat products from OSI in China, and a further 100 tonnes of products from a range of its customers. 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.
An official at OSI in China reached by telephone on Wednesday declined to comment further. 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.
"DOCTORED RECORDS"
Xinhua also cited the Shanghai food watchdog's deputy head Gu as saying that Shanghai Husi's controls systems and records for suspected products violated Chinese regulations.
In the Dragon TV documentary on Sunday, staff at the Shanghai Husi facility said they kept two record books related to food products, one of which was doctored to be shown to anyone who came to audit the facility. According to the report, which claimed to show an inspection of the facility by McDonald's, Shanghai Husi staff were aware a day in advance of the visit and made sure that only compliant products were being processed on the day.
In Japan, a spokesman for Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd said a licensee in Shanghai had been selling two hamburger products using meat supplied by Shanghai Husi. Both products were removed from outlets on Monday.
A spokeswoman for FamilyMart Co Ltd said the Japanese convenience store chain had begun a supply deal with Shanghai Husi this month, selling a "Garlic Nugget" product at its around 10,000 stores in Japan. Another product, "Popcorn Chicken" began test-sales mainly in Tokyo this week. Sales of both products were halted on Tuesday. The company said there were no reports of any customers falling sick from the products. "I am deeply sorry for causing this trouble and worry to all those involved," FamilyMart President Isamu Nakayama told reporters in Tokyo. "We do not think there is any problem with our operating structure but the very fact that this happened means that I think that additional checks should be put into place to help reassure consumers."
On Tuesday, McDonald's Holdings Co (Japan) Ltd said the company had sourced about a fifth of its Chicken McNuggets from Shanghai Husi and had halted sales of the product on Monday.
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JMC continues drive against adulteration
JAMMU: Health and Sanitation Wing of Jammu Municipal Corporation launched a continued drive against menace of adulteration in commonly used food items during the ongoing Amarnath Yatra and Holy Month of Ramzan. The drive is planned under the supervision of Health Officer JMC, Dr. Mohammad Saleem Khan on the directions of Commissioner JMC.
The teams inspected various food establishments like hotel, restaurants, meat and chicken shops, provisional stores, Bakery shops, food stalls, Sabzi vendors, fruit juice corners / vendors, tea stalls, ice cream corners, etc. at Jewel, Below Gummat, Jammu Haat, Gujjar Nagar, Talab Khatikan, Bikram Chowk, Gandhi Nagar, Nai Basti etc. of Jammu city.
During the drive, 200 ltrs of Jaljeera and 10 Kgs of cut fruits found sub-standard were destroyed on spot. The team also seized about 15 Kgs of polythene bags. A fine of Rs. 5,900 was imposed on defaulters. During the round, eight persons were booked under COTP Act 2003 and a fine of Rs. 1,000 was imposed as penalty from the defaulters and citizens were advised not to smoke in public places as it is injurious to health and a punishable offence.
The Health Officer of JMC, Dr. Mohammad Saleem Khan appealed to all the food business operators not to sell any type of unhygienic food items not conforming to prescribed quality and standards which can put the public health to danger, otherwise stringent action under Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 shall be taken against the defaulters. Moreover all the food business operators dealing with milk and its products are strictly warned not to sell adulterated milk and its products.
The Health Officer advised the shopkeepers to cover their sweets and other eatable items, so that they are not exposed to dust and flies and not to use colours for preparing sweets. Their workshops should be neat and clean failing which action under law will be initiated against them.
The drive will continue and the people were requested to co-operate with the Jammu Municipal Corporation to make the drive a success.
20 percent of all food items sold found to be adulterated
Over 20 percent of food items served in restaurants and fast food outlets across the country have been found to be substandard or adulterated, according to government data.
Out of 46,283 food samples including milk, milk products, edible vegetable oil and spices tested at various government laboratories during 2013-14, as many as 9,265 samples were found to be adulterated and misbranded.
Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of such cases in 2013-14, with a total of 2,930 vendors being prosecuted and as many as 1,919 of them convicted.
A total penalty of more than Rs 4.47 crore was imposed on offenders in the state. In 2012-13, a total of 2,551 cases were registered and there was conviction in 1,010 cases.
Penalty amount of over Rs 3.70 crore was imposed on offenders. Maharashtra comes second in the list, with government agencies carrying out 2,557 prosecutions and convicting 66 offenders. Haryana registered 260 such cases for the period 2013-14, and conviction was awarded in 166 cases, while penalty amount of Rs 26,61,800 was imposed on offenders.
Other states like Uttarakhand registered 122 cases, Jharkhand 99, Bihar 90 and Delhi 61 cases of food adulteration. Regular surveillance, monitoring and sampling of food products are undertaken by State or Union Territory governments under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 to curb the menace, said Union Health Ministry officials.
Random samples of food items are drawn by State Food Safety officials and sent to the laboratories recognised by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India for analysis.
In cases where samples are found to be not conforming to the provisions of the Act, actions are initiated against the offenders, the officials said.
Imported liquor may soon go off retailer shelves
Since the days of the British Raj, the Indian upper middle class has treated imported liquor with utmost respect. Frequent overseas travellers know what it is like to make a dash for that bottle before leaving the duty-free section of airports. But all that may soon be passe now with that highly coveted daaru soon to go off the retail shelves.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has come down heavily on suppliers of imported liquor by holding back close to 100 consignments at Mumbai and Delhi for not complying with FSSAI norms of listing the ingredients on the bottles.
New guidelines issued by the FSSAI authorities towards the end of last month are threatening to throw foreign liquor bottles off the shelves of retailers across India. According to the new guidelines, except for single ingredient foods, a list of ingredients are to be listed on the label. This applies even to alcoholic beverages, if additives including colour, water, and preservatives are used in their manufacture and are present in the final product. The guidelines further state, "These (ingredients) have to appear in descending order of their composition by weight or volume at the time of its manufacture." The FSSAI rules also state that water can be exempted from being listed as an ingredient, in cases where water forms part of an ingredient. So for Scotch, the water used during the distillation process need not be listed. "But water added to bulk Scotch to bring it down its alcoholic strength would now be treated as an ingredient, and hence be listed."
A highly placed industry source said, "If the situation does not get better in the coming four to six weeks, stocks will run dry and that is when the scarcity problem will start. At the moment, 63 containers have been held back in Delhi for not complying with the norms, while containers are piling up in Mumbai." Another source said, "It is the customer who is going to lose at the end of the day. The market is going to keep demanding but it is those bars which serve spurious liquor as well as contraband liquor that will flourish. The customer will never know the amount of dilution his drink is going to have."
Experts feel that the situation is very grim now and will take a long time for the market to return to normal. An industry expert said, "FSSAI has allowed containers which contained alcohol that had expiry dates and nutritional values on their labels to enter. This sudden dip in the availability of imported brands such as Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie, Glenlivet, Malibu Rum, Moet and Chandon, Moet Hennessy, etc. will have a negative impact on the market. The market will take more than three months to return to normal. On top of that, since liquor is a state subject, the new labels will have to get approved by state excise authorities as well. Looks like there is no good news for customers."
Experts are of the opinion that duty-free stores across all international airports in the country will also be harmed. Anirban Dutta Chowdhury, country head, Nuance Group, which manages duty-free shops at Mumbai and Bangalore airports, said, "We have heard of these regulations coming into place but haven't faced any difficulty yet. We are FSSAI-compliant and frankly it is the suppliers who have to comply with the new laws. We haven't faced any such issues as of now and stocks are all getting cleared on time."
China meat scandal hits Starbucks, Burger King
Starbucks Corp. on Tuesday said it removed from its shelves sandwiches made with chicken that originated at Husi.
BEIJING: A suspect meat scandal in China engulfed Starbucks and Burger King on Tuesday and spread to Japan where McDonald's said the Chinese supplier accused of selling expired beef and chicken had provided 20 percent of the meat for its chicken nuggets.
Chinese authorities expanded their investigation of the meat supplier, Shanghai company Husi Food Co. A day after Husi's food processing plant in Shanghai was sealed by the China Food and Drug Administration, the agency said Tuesday that inspectors also will look at its facilities and meat sources in five provinces in central, eastern and southern China.
The scandal surrounding Husi Food, which is owned by OSI Group of Aurora, Illinois, has added to a string of safety scares in China over milk, medicines and other goods that have left the public wary of dairies, restaurants and other suppliers.
Food safety violations will be "severely punished," the food agency said on its website.
Starbucks Corp. on Tuesday said it removed from its shelves sandwiches made with chicken that originated at Husi. Burger King Corp. said it stopped using hamburger it received from a supplier that used product from Husi. Pizza restaurant chain Papa John's International Inc. announced it stopped using meat from Husi.
In Japan, McDonald's Corp. said it stopped selling McNuggets at more than 1,300 outlets that used chicken supplied by Husi. It said the Shanghai company had been supplying chicken to it since 2002.
A Shanghai broadcaster, Dragon TV, reported Sunday that Husi repackaged old beef and chicken and put new expiration dates on them. It said they were sold to McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants.
McDonald's and Yum Brands Inc., which owns KFC and Pizza Hut, said they immediately stopped using meat from Husi. A third restaurant chain, Taiwanese-owned Dicos, also said Monday it stopped using meat from Husi.
In a statement, Husi said it was "appalled by the report" and would cooperate with the investigation. It promised to share the results with the public.
"Our company management believes this to be an isolated event, but takes full responsibility for the situation and will take appropriate actions swiftly and comprehensively," Husi said.
Some companies said they didn't deal with Husi but had discovered their suppliers bought meat from that company.
Food and drug safety is an unusually sensitive issue in China following scandals over the past decade in which infants, hospital patients and others have been killed or sickened by phony or adulterated milk powder, drugs and other goods.
Foreign fast food brands are seen as more reliable than Chinese competitors, though local brands have made big improvements in quality.
"If confirmed, the practices outlined in the report are completely unacceptable to McDonald's," the company's Chinese business said in a statement.
Yum's KFC is China's biggest restaurant chain, with more than 4,000 outlets and plans to open 700 more this year.
The company, based in Louisville, Kentucky, said in a statement that "food safety is the most important priority for us."
"We will not tolerate any violations of government laws and regulations from our suppliers," it said.
KFC sales in China plunged after state television reported in December 2013 some poultry suppliers violated rules on drug use in chickens. KFC overhauled quality controls and eliminated more than 1,000 small poultry producers from its supply network.
In Japan, McDonald's spokesman Kenji Kaniya said the affected stores are in Tokyo area and the cities of Nagano and Shizuoka.
Other chicken used by McDonald's in Japan comes from suppliers in Thailand and China, Kaniya said.
China meat scandal hits Starbucks, Burger King
APBurger King Corp. said it stopped using hamburger it received from a supplier that used product from Husi. A Shanghai broadcaster, Dragon TV, reported Sunday that Husi repackaged old beef and chicken and put new expiration dates on them.
Chinese authorities expanded their investigation of the meat supplier, Shanghai company Husi Food Co.
A suspect meat scandal in China engulfed Starbucks and Burger King on Tuesday and spread to Japan where McDonald’s said the Chinese supplier accused of selling expired beef and chicken had provided 20 percent of the meat for its chicken nuggets.
Chinese authorities expanded their investigation of the meat supplier, Shanghai company Husi Food Co. A day after Husi’s food processing plant in Shanghai was sealed by the China Food and Drug Administration, the agency said Tuesday that inspectors also will look at its facilities and meat sources in five provinces in central, eastern and southern China.
The scandal surrounding Husi Food, which is owned by OSI Group of Aurora, Illinois, has added to a string of safety scares in China over milk, medicines and other goods that have left the public wary of dairies, restaurants and other suppliers.
Food safety violations will be “severely punished,” the food agency said on its website.
Starbucks Corp. on Tuesday said it removed from its shelves sandwiches made with chicken that originated at Husi. Burger King Corp. said it stopped using hamburger it received from a supplier that used product from Husi. Pizza restaurant chain Papa John’s International Inc. announced it stopped using meat from Husi.
In Japan, McDonald’s Corp. said it stopped selling McNuggets at more than 1,300 outlets that used chicken supplied by Husi. It said the Shanghai company had been supplying chicken to it since 2002.
A Shanghai broadcaster, Dragon TV, reported Sunday that Husi repackaged old beef and chicken and put new expiration dates on them. It said they were sold to McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants.
McDonald’s and Yum Brands Inc., which owns KFC and Pizza Hut, said they immediately stopped using meat from Husi. A third restaurant chain, Taiwanese-owned Dicos, also said Monday it stopped using meat from Husi.
In a statement, Husi said it was “appalled by the report” and would cooperate with the investigation. It promised to share the results with the public.
“Our company management believes this to be an isolated event, but takes full responsibility for the situation and will take appropriate actions swiftly and comprehensively,” Husi said.
Some companies said they didn’t deal with Husi but had discovered their suppliers bought meat from that company.
Food and drug safety is an unusually sensitive issue in China following scandals over the past decade in which infants, hospital patients and others have been killed or sickened by phony or adulterated milk powder, drugs and other goods.
Foreign fast food brands are seen as more reliable than Chinese competitors, though local brands have made big improvements in quality.
“If confirmed, the practices outlined in the report are completely unacceptable to McDonald’s,” the company’s Chinese business said in a statement.
Yum’s KFC is China’s biggest restaurant chain, with more than 4,000 outlets and plans to open 700 more this year.
The company, based in Louisville, Kentucky, said in a statement that “food safety is the most important priority for us.”
“We will not tolerate any violations of government laws and regulations from our suppliers,” it said.
KFC sales in China plunged after state television reported in December 2013 some poultry suppliers violated rules on drug use in chickens. KFC overhauled quality controls and eliminated more than 1,000 small poultry producers from its supply network.
In Japan, McDonald’s spokesman Kenji Kaniya said the affected stores are in Tokyo area and the cities of Nagano and Shizuoka.
Other chicken used by McDonald’s in Japan comes from suppliers in Thailand and China, Mr. Kaniya said.
China's McDonald's, KFC face new food scandal
McDonald’s and KFC in China faced a new food safety scare on Monday after a Shanghai television station reported a supplier sold them expired beef and chicken.
The companies said they immediately stopped using meat from the supplier, Husi Food Co., Ltd. The Shanghai office of China’s food and drug agency said it was investigating and told customers to suspend use of its products.
Dragon TV said on Sunday that Husi, owned by OSI Group of Aurora, Illinois, repackaged stale beef and chicken and put new expiration dates on them. It said they were sold to McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants.
The report added to a series of food safety scares in China that have battered public confidence in dairies, fast food outlets and other suppliers.
McDonald’s Corp. and Yum Brands Inc., which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, said in separate statements they were conducting their own investigations.
“Food safety is a top priority for McDonald’s,” the company said on its microblog account.
The company said it pursues “strict compliance” with consumer safety laws and regulations and has “zero tolerance for illegal behavior.”
A third company, sandwich shop chain Dicos, said in a statement it stopped using sausage patties supplied by Husi.
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