July 28, 2014

McDonald's Hong Kong suspends nugget over Husi Food expired meat scandal

McDonald's Hong Kong, which imports meat from the Chinese subsidiary of US-owned OSI Group at the centre of an expired meat scandal, has suspended sales of chicken nuggets and other affected items.

The fast-food chain announced it had halted sales of nuggets, chicken burgers, salads and lemon tea as Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety ordered the suspension of all imports from the Husi Food Company on Thursday.

Shanghai authorities on Sunday shut a Husi plant for mixing out-of-date meat with fresh product, re-labelling expired goods and other quality problems, following an investigative report by a local television station.

McDonald's Hong Kong had sourced chicken, beef, salad items and lemons from two other Husi factories.

RTHK said Hong Kong officials had taken several hundred samples from McDonald's warehouse for checks but had not found any suspect meat.

In China, apart from McDonald's, the factory supplies meat to restaurant operator Yum's Pizza Hut, coffee chain Starbucks, Burger King, 7-Eleven convenience stores, Papa John's Pizza and furniture retailer Ikea.

McDonald's Japan has also confirmed it sourced about 20% of its McNuggets from the Shanghai factory.