Yum, McDonalds Stop Supply of Expired Products in China, Start Investigation

The U.S. fast food chains McDonalds Corp and Yum Brand Inc have immediately stopped meat supplies from a Shanghai company after allegations of usage of expired meat in their products.

The Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration revealed that a Chinese watchdog seized products of OSI Group LLC, on suspicion that they were supplying expired products.

OSI products were sold to clients including Yum's KFC, Pizza Hut chains and Taco bell and McDonald's.

Yum and McDonald's issued a public statement on their official Weibo site saying that they had stopped supplies from Shanghai Husi Food Co Ltd, a local unit of OSI, and were investigating the matter, reports Reuters.

"Food safety is the most important thing for McDonald's, and we always strictly abide by national laws and regulations and related standards to ensure consumers can enjoy our products at ease," McDonald's said in the Weibo statement..

This is the second such case of contaminated chicken and meat supplies in Mcdonald and Yum brands. Earlier, in 2012 authorities had found excessive use of antibiotics in chicken supplies in Shanghai.

"This latest food-quality scandal will have a limited and transitory impact on KFC China," analysts Mei He, Yaoxin Huang and Haiyan Guo of China International Capital Corp. Ltd. Said, reports Businessweek. "Local management have learned painful lessons from 2012's 'instant chicken' scare will take immediate and forceful measures to contain any adverse publicity and close the loopholes in any quality-assurance procedures."

The OSI has more than 50 manufacturing facilities worldwide and had a turnover of $5 million in 2012.From 1992 it has been supplying to McDonald's and to Yum since 2008 in China.