Shanghai FDA shuts down meat supplier to McDonald’s, KFC

The Shanghai Food and Drug Administration last night shuttered a meat supplier to McDonald's and KFC after a television station claimed it used out-of-date chicken.

An undercover reporter posing as a worker at a local arm of US-based supplier OSI filmed workers mixing meat with fresh cuts and making false claims to McDonald's inspectors, the government-published Shanghai Daily reported today.

According to the paper, there was even a manual outlining the mix ratios'' for combining substandard and fresh chicken meats.

Immediately after the TV broadcast McDonald's and KFC, a unit of Yum!, were said to have stopped purchases from the supplier.

Illinois-based OSI's Chinese arm Shanghai Husi Food Co, Ltd, which sold the out-of-date chicken, is also a supplier to Papa Johns, Starbucks, Subway, Burger King and Pizza Hut the Chinese paper said.

Starbucks, McDonald's and Yum! had benefitted in recent years from growth in China as GDP and consumer spending increased in the country.

Food safety continues to be a problem in China.   Share prices for Yum! last year were down during an outbreak of bird flu in China.

According to reporters who managed to enter Husi workshops, they saw clear evidence that stale beef and chicken were repackaged after processing to extend their shelf life for another year.

The Shanghai food and drug authority had launched an investigation, and called for suspected meat products to be taken off store shelves.

Shanghai Husi Food was established in 1996. The company operates two production lines, one for chicken and the other for beef and pork.