Six Arrested in Chinese Scandal Over Expired Meat

Chinese authorities in Shanghai have arrested six officials and employees from a subsidiary of the U.S. food supplier OSI Group in connection with the scandal involving expired meat served at a number of Western food chain franchises in China, according to Channel News Asia.  The six, who were arrested this past Friday, work for Shanghai Husi Food Co., which was found to be mixing outdated meat in with fresher supplies. The charge reportedly was “producing and selling counterfeit products.”  The company supplied food to Chinese franchise locations of big-name chains such as McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Burger King and 7-Eleven. They also supplied affected food to McDonald’s locations in Japan and Hong Kong.  China has suffered repeated food safety scandals in recent years, though this one seemed to spark a relatively higher level of public shock because Western food chains in China are generally believed to maintain higher standards of food quality and safety.  OSI is now under investigation from the Chinese government, and McDonald’s has cut ties with the company in China. Operations continue to be suspended at Shanghai Husi Food Co.  In July, Food Safety News reported that the fraudulent mixing of outdated meat may have begun more than a year ago.