Half of mainland consumers no longer trust Western fast-food companies after scandal
Up to 69 per cent of Chinese people taking part in online poll say they will stop eating at KFC and McDonald's after news that expired meat was allegedly sold to the Western companies
Exactly half of all the Chinese consumers who took part in an online poll today say they no longer trust Western fast-food companies following the new scandal surrounding rotten meat.
The survey, carried out by Sina Shanghai, had attracted more than 1,800 respondents by 2.45pm today.
In a second Sina survey started yesterday, featuring 25,000 respondents up to 2.45pm today, 77 per cent believed the restaurant brands affected had been aware of Husi’s faulty practices, while 69 per cent said they would no longer dine at the restaurants run by the Western companies.
77 per cent of people in the poll said they believed the affected Western fast-food restaurant brands had been aware of Husi’s faulty practices. Also 69 per cent said they would no longer dine at the restaurants run by the Western companies.
China’s food safety agency has announced a nationwide investigation into processing factories and meat suppliers used by the Shanghai Husi Food Company, which is accused of selling expired beef and chicken to McDonald’s, KFC, Starbucks and Pizza Hut.
The scandal was revealed by a Shanghai television station.
Other food companies that have sourced their meat from Husi include the Swedish furniture retailer, Ikea, and the Chinese fast-food chain, Dicos.
The China Food and Drug Administration said that its food and safety inspectors will look, not only at Husi’s facility in Shanghai, but also processing sites and meat sources in five other provinces in central, eastern and southern China.
Violations will be “severely punished”, the agency said on its website.