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Top 9 food safety scandals served by global brands
Frustrated by food safety scandals over the past few years, many Chinese consumers opted for Western food suppliers in search of reliable and delicious alternatives, especially baby food.
But they found the same problem over and over again.
Furor caused by Shanghai Husi Food Co's expired meat scandal had not even abated when H.J. Heinz was exposed for selling products that had excessive levels of lead.
Will China ever be able to contain the food safety issue and are Chinese consumers losing faith in the quality of imported food?
Let's take a look at some of the biggest food scandals that have ensnared global brands in recent years in China.
1. H.J. Heinz
US-based food company H.J. Heinz Co is one of the most popular infant nutrition producers in China.
Zhejiang Provincial Food and Drug Administration made a statement on August 18 saying that they have sealed 614 boxes of baby cereal products made by US food giant H.J. Heinz after they were found to contain excessive levels of lead.
Excessive levels of lead were found in 400-gram boxes of "AD Calcium Hi-Protein Cereal" with batch number 20140413 during a regular food inspection in the second quarter, said the statement.
Sheldon Lavin, chairman, chief executive officer and owner of OSI Group LLC of the United States, attends a press conference of OSI Group China in Shanghai, July 28, 2014. [Chinanews.com]
2. OSI Group
It isn't a household name, but the company at the center of the food scandal in China helps make some of the world's most popular foods.
OSI Group, a privately-held company based in Aurora, Illinois, was thrust into the spotlight when a Chinese TV station reported that one of its Shanghai plants repackaged old beef and chicken and slapped new expiration dates on them.
The scare has ensnared some famous chains that got ingredients from a unit of OSI (pronounced OH-see) in the region called Husi Food Co.
The controversy deepened when five workers of Husi were detained by police. An official with China's food safety regulator told the media that some of the illegal conduct it uncovered was an arrangement "organized" by Husi.
3. KFC
The latest scandal of the fast food chain of using expired meat is not the only scare that this American fast-food chain has given Chinese consumers.
In July 2013, China Central Television reported that ice samples taken from KFC in Beijing contained 12 times as much bacteria as toilet water and 19 times the allowable bacteria levels for drinking water in China. A series of food scandals in the past few years, such as quick-growth chickens served by KFC and also a report on KFC's meat contains naphthalene red, have shaken Chinese consumer's confidence in this famous brand.
4. McDonald's
When the long-time McDonald's meat supplier - Shanghai Husi Food Co was shut down, this famous fast-food brand was again brought under the spotlight by food safety scandals.
The impact at McDonald's menu was far greater. A spokeswoman, Heidi Barker Sa Shekhem, said the Shanghai plant supplied products including sausage patties, ham patties, beef patties and chicken nuggets. As of July 23, McDonald's locations in Shanghai were still unable to serve some items.
A scandal in 2013 also showed that McDonald's had been using quick-growth chicken.
Due to the vast size of the fast-food market in China, which poses an obstacle to consistent regulating, foreign companies are going to need to invest a lot more resources in their supply lines, an expert said.
5. Starbucks
The latest fast food scandal in China has brought US coffee chain Starbucks products under the spotlight.
Starbucks said some of its cafes previously sold products containing chicken from Shanghai Husi Food Co, which was suspected of using expired meat.
The Seattle-based company has already provided 725,000 training hours for 14,000 employees in China and moved more than 110 young employees back to their hometown to become managers in new stores.
In 2013, Starbucks was questioned of using "toilet water" to brew its coffee after photos of a "Starbucks Only" water spout in a bathroom emerged on the web in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong-based tabloid Apple Daily first published images of the questionable practice along with a report stating that Starbucks staff fetched water from the public restroom in the building's parking garage several times every day and used it to brew coffee.
6. Pizza Hut
When Shanghai Husi Food Co was shut down, Pizza Hut was also found in the list of chains that have been using the expired meat.
Yum! Brands, which owns Pizza Hut, said that they have halted buying meat products from the Shanghai supplier, and reiterated that they have zero tolerance for illegal behavior in food safety.
The fast-food chain's Chongqing location last year was also reported to serve customer 'expired food'. A woman bought one serving of fried rice only to find it not only to be the wrong order, but also a plate of cold food that was cooked four hours ago. The angry customer accused the famous chain to be "indifferent toward customer's health".
7. Wal-Mart
In June 2014, Beijing Food and Drug Administration published food safety information that asked sale of 11 foods to be stopped; of which three kinds of bamboo fungus/suns were found to contain excessive sub-cadmium sold in Wal-Mart. The company responded by saying that the bamboo fungus had been taken off shelves.
The sub-cadmium was not added by the products' manufactures but from polluted soil, water and air. Taking small amount of cadmium for a long term will cause damage to kidney and bone in human body.
In December 2013, "five spiced" donkey meat jerky sold in US retailer Wal-Mart in Jinan, Shandong province, was discovered to contain DNA of fox. Police had investigated the meat supplier Shandong Dezhou Fujude Food Ltd Co. All products from Dezhou had been taken off shelves in Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart apologized to the public and announced to compensate their consumers. The food purchase and food safety regulation of the company needed to be strengthened.
8. Fonterra
Chinese consumers' passion for New Zealand's dairy products suffered a major hiccup in August last year. The loss in confidence followed a recall of tons of dairy powder products sold by New Zealand-based dairy producer Fonterra.
Tests had shown some of the products contained bacteria that can cause botulism. The contaminated whey products had been sold to third parties that use them to produce infant formula and sports drinks.
About 1,000 tons of consumer products were affected by the recall in seven countries. Four Chinese manufacturers; Dumex Baby Food Company, two subsidiaries of beverage manufacturer Wahaha Group, and Shanghai Sugar, Tobacco and Alcohol; had used the potentially contaminated products. Coca-Cola's Chinese subsidiary was also affected. China's food safety authorities ordered importers to recall any potentially infected products and blocked imports of all milk powder products from New Zealand.
9. Hero Nutradefense
In March 2013, China Central Television published a weekly quality report that said that infant formula powder Hero Nutradefense imported from the Netherlands was suspected to be illegally produced by Xile Li'er Import and Export Co in Suzhou, China.
The Hero Nutradefense was made of unknown baby formula powder and milk powder that had expired. Xile Li'er also changed the production and expiration dates and repackaged them.
All products with "Nutradefense" label had to be taken off shelves in department stores as well as online stores.
Frustrated by food safety scandals over the past few years, many Chinese consumers opted for Western food suppliers in search of reliable and delicious alternatives, especially baby food.
But they found the same problem over and over again.
Furor caused by Shanghai Husi Food Co's expired meat scandal had not even abated when H.J. Heinz was exposed for selling products that had excessive levels of lead.
Will China ever be able to contain the food safety issue and are Chinese consumers losing faith in the quality of imported food?
Let's take a look at some of the biggest food scandals that have ensnared global brands in recent years in China.
1. H.J. Heinz
US-based food company H.J. Heinz Co is one of the most popular infant nutrition producers in China.
Zhejiang Provincial Food and Drug Administration made a statement on August 18 saying that they have sealed 614 boxes of baby cereal products made by US food giant H.J. Heinz after they were found to contain excessive levels of lead.
Excessive levels of lead were found in 400-gram boxes of "AD Calcium Hi-Protein Cereal" with batch number 20140413 during a regular food inspection in the second quarter, said the statement.
Sheldon Lavin, chairman, chief executive officer and owner of OSI Group LLC of the United States, attends a press conference of OSI Group China in Shanghai, July 28, 2014. [Chinanews.com]
2. OSI Group
It isn't a household name, but the company at the center of the food scandal in China helps make some of the world's most popular foods.
OSI Group, a privately-held company based in Aurora, Illinois, was thrust into the spotlight when a Chinese TV station reported that one of its Shanghai plants repackaged old beef and chicken and slapped new expiration dates on them.
The scare has ensnared some famous chains that got ingredients from a unit of OSI (pronounced OH-see) in the region called Husi Food Co.
The controversy deepened when five workers of Husi were detained by police. An official with China's food safety regulator told the media that some of the illegal conduct it uncovered was an arrangement "organized" by Husi.
3. KFC
The latest scandal of the fast food chain of using expired meat is not the only scare that this American fast-food chain has given Chinese consumers.
In July 2013, China Central Television reported that ice samples taken from KFC in Beijing contained 12 times as much bacteria as toilet water and 19 times the allowable bacteria levels for drinking water in China. A series of food scandals in the past few years, such as quick-growth chickens served by KFC and also a report on KFC's meat contains naphthalene red, have shaken Chinese consumer's confidence in this famous brand.
4. McDonald's
When the long-time McDonald's meat supplier - Shanghai Husi Food Co was shut down, this famous fast-food brand was again brought under the spotlight by food safety scandals.
The impact at McDonald's menu was far greater. A spokeswoman, Heidi Barker Sa Shekhem, said the Shanghai plant supplied products including sausage patties, ham patties, beef patties and chicken nuggets. As of July 23, McDonald's locations in Shanghai were still unable to serve some items.
A scandal in 2013 also showed that McDonald's had been using quick-growth chicken.
Due to the vast size of the fast-food market in China, which poses an obstacle to consistent regulating, foreign companies are going to need to invest a lot more resources in their supply lines, an expert said.
5. Starbucks
The latest fast food scandal in China has brought US coffee chain Starbucks products under the spotlight.
Starbucks said some of its cafes previously sold products containing chicken from Shanghai Husi Food Co, which was suspected of using expired meat.
The Seattle-based company has already provided 725,000 training hours for 14,000 employees in China and moved more than 110 young employees back to their hometown to become managers in new stores.
In 2013, Starbucks was questioned of using "toilet water" to brew its coffee after photos of a "Starbucks Only" water spout in a bathroom emerged on the web in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong-based tabloid Apple Daily first published images of the questionable practice along with a report stating that Starbucks staff fetched water from the public restroom in the building's parking garage several times every day and used it to brew coffee.
6. Pizza Hut
When Shanghai Husi Food Co was shut down, Pizza Hut was also found in the list of chains that have been using the expired meat.
Yum! Brands, which owns Pizza Hut, said that they have halted buying meat products from the Shanghai supplier, and reiterated that they have zero tolerance for illegal behavior in food safety.
The fast-food chain's Chongqing location last year was also reported to serve customer 'expired food'. A woman bought one serving of fried rice only to find it not only to be the wrong order, but also a plate of cold food that was cooked four hours ago. The angry customer accused the famous chain to be "indifferent toward customer's health".
7. Wal-Mart
In June 2014, Beijing Food and Drug Administration published food safety information that asked sale of 11 foods to be stopped; of which three kinds of bamboo fungus/suns were found to contain excessive sub-cadmium sold in Wal-Mart. The company responded by saying that the bamboo fungus had been taken off shelves.
The sub-cadmium was not added by the products' manufactures but from polluted soil, water and air. Taking small amount of cadmium for a long term will cause damage to kidney and bone in human body.
In December 2013, "five spiced" donkey meat jerky sold in US retailer Wal-Mart in Jinan, Shandong province, was discovered to contain DNA of fox. Police had investigated the meat supplier Shandong Dezhou Fujude Food Ltd Co. All products from Dezhou had been taken off shelves in Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart apologized to the public and announced to compensate their consumers. The food purchase and food safety regulation of the company needed to be strengthened.
8. Fonterra
Chinese consumers' passion for New Zealand's dairy products suffered a major hiccup in August last year. The loss in confidence followed a recall of tons of dairy powder products sold by New Zealand-based dairy producer Fonterra.
Tests had shown some of the products contained bacteria that can cause botulism. The contaminated whey products had been sold to third parties that use them to produce infant formula and sports drinks.
About 1,000 tons of consumer products were affected by the recall in seven countries. Four Chinese manufacturers; Dumex Baby Food Company, two subsidiaries of beverage manufacturer Wahaha Group, and Shanghai Sugar, Tobacco and Alcohol; had used the potentially contaminated products. Coca-Cola's Chinese subsidiary was also affected. China's food safety authorities ordered importers to recall any potentially infected products and blocked imports of all milk powder products from New Zealand.
9. Hero Nutradefense
In March 2013, China Central Television published a weekly quality report that said that infant formula powder Hero Nutradefense imported from the Netherlands was suspected to be illegally produced by Xile Li'er Import and Export Co in Suzhou, China.
The Hero Nutradefense was made of unknown baby formula powder and milk powder that had expired. Xile Li'er also changed the production and expiration dates and repackaged them.
All products with "Nutradefense" label had to be taken off shelves in department stores as well as online stores.
