Chinese police have detained five employees of a US-owned group accused of relabelling expired meat, amid allegations of systemic violations at a key supplier to McDonald’s, KFC and other fast-food chains in China and Japan.
Fast-food chains have diverted meat supplies from elsewhere in Asia after an undercover investigation by a local television station prompted authorities to shut a Shanghai processing plant owned by Illinois-based OSI Group.
The food-safety scare is the latest to hit western chains in what is a critical market, and comes just as Yum Brands, owner of KFC, appears to be recovering from a December 2012 supplier scandal in China.