Chinese Food Scandal Spreads to Japan

Tokyo, July 22 (Jiji Press)--A Chinese food scandal has spread to Japan, causing at least two companies to stop selling products supplied by a Shanghai firm that reportedly used chicken meat past expiration dates. On Tuesday, McDonald's Co. (Japan) said it has imported about 20 pct of its Chicken McNuggets sold in Japan from Shanghai Husi Food Co., the Chinese company in question. The hamburger chain stopped selling the nuggets made by Shanghai Husi and replaced them with products from other suppliers in China and Thailand after learning of the problem on Monday, the unit of McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) said. The nuggets from the Chinese firm in question were sold at 1,340 outlets in 11 out of Japan's 47 prefectures, including Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba in the heavily populated Kanto region in eastern Japan. Also on Tuesday, convenience store chain FamilyMart Co. stopped selling its Garlic Nugget and Popcorn Chicken procured from the Chinese firm. FamilyMart sold the nuggets from July 1 at some 10,000 outlets across Japan. The chicken was launched just on Monday on a trial basis at 10 stores in and outside Tokyo. McDonald's Co. (Japan) and Shanghai Husi have been business partners since 2002. The Japanese chain has had to stop sales of nuggets altogether at up to 500 restaurants, because it takes time to switch to other suppliers, officials said. McDonald's Co. (Japan) apologized for any inconvenience it has caused on customers. The company would not tolerate any use of expired meat in its products, the officials said. FamilyMart said it is still trying to confirm whether expired meat was used in its products. The company removed the products from the store shelves because it puts food safety first, according to officials. END