An American-owned company that processes chicken in China
for McDonald’s and KFC is in the hot seat over allegations by a whistleblower
who shot an undercover video.
OSI Group of Aurora, Illinois, says it’s investigating and
will not tolerate the situation exposed in the video, including 12-day-old
chicken being cleared for processing into nuggets.
“Company management was appalled by the report
and is dealing with the issue directly and quickly,” OSI Group said by way of a
press release.
“The company has formed an investigation team,
is fully cooperating with inspections being conducted by relevant, supervising
government agencies and is also conducting its own internal review,” the
company says.
We are “committed to sharing the investigation
results with the public and taking all necessary action based on those results,”
the company says.
McDonald's and KFC-parent Yum apologized to
customers and stopped serving products purchased from the supplier on Monday
after Chinese regulators shut down the Shanghai Husi plant following the TV
report, according to Reuters news agency.
The plant supplies about 500 of McDonald’s
2,000 outlets in China.
“We are committed to the highest standards of
food safety and our customers are always our number one priority,” Becca Hary,
director of global media relations for McDonald’s, told Meatingplace Magazine.
“If confirmed, the practices outlined in the (television
station) report are completely unacceptable to McDonald’s. We are no longer
serving product from the facility.”
