Shanghai food authority fines fast food supplier over meat scandal

SHANGHAI - Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration on Monday ordered a major fast food chain supplier and its parent company to pay fines for producing and selling substandard products.

According to the authority, Shanghai Husi Food Co and OSI Group's China office were fined approximately 17 million yuan ($2.5 million) and 7.3 million yuan respectively.

The district market regulators have also added the two companies to a blacklist of those who have committed serious legal violations, meaning stricter regulations in the future.

In a statement, the two companies accepted the punishment and promised to pay the penalty on time.

Husi is a subsidiary of US-based global food processor OSI Group and a former supplier to major fast food chains including McDonald's and Yum! Brands KFC and Pizza Hut.

The case was first exposed after a local TV station reported in July 2014 that Shanghai Husi had supplied products tainted with reprocessed, expired meat to a string of fast food chains and restaurants across China.

A Shanghai court in February ordered Husi's Shanghai and Hebei plants to pay fines and sentenced 10 people to prison terms.