Company at centre of rotten meat scandal promises China division shake-up
The parent company of the Shanghai supplier accused of selling expired meat says its conduct was unacceptable
A United States-based meat supplier whose Shanghai subsidiary is at the centre of a food safety scandal has promised sweeping changes to its management structure and said the conduct of its mainland operation had been completely unacceptable.
A TV station alleged last week that Shanghai Husi Food Company sold expired beef and chicken to restaurants including McDonald's and KFC.
Five executives at the company, including the quality control manager, have been arrested and an investigation is under way.
The president of parent company OSI Group, David McDonald, told a press conference yesterday that it had found evidence of poor standards at the Shanghai company, but he declined to give details.
"Why these things took place, by whom they took place and for what motives they took place, we simply can't understand," he said. "We'll take swift action to investigate as quickly and as comprehensively as possible."
OSI, based in Illinois in the United States, said its Chinese operations would no longer be a separate, decentralised unit and the business would be directly controlled by the firm's headquarters.