Five detained over China rotten meat scandal

Police Wednesday detained five people in a probe into a company that allegedly supplied rotten meat to fast food chains, including McDonald's and KFC, in Shanghai, China.

According to Shanghai's public security bureau, the five people from the company include a quality manager, Xinhua reported.

The Shanghai Husi Food Co. Ltd. produced 5,108 crates of meat products, including McNuggets, pork patties and beef steaks using meat beyond its expuiry dates, the bureau said.

According to investigators, the expired-date meat products were sold to McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, 7-Eleven and Taiwan-based fast food restaurant chain, Dicos.

About 100 tonnes of the Husi products have been sealed up.

Shanghai-based Dragon TV aired a news programme Sunday claiming that Shanghai Husi, a unit of US-based OSI Group LLC, had supplied products tainted with re-processed expired meat to a string of fast food chains and restaurants across China.

Zhang Hui, manager of Husi's quality department, confessed during investigations that the company has been conducting the malpractice for years under tacit approval of senior managers.