The latest food scandal in China is spreading fast, dragging in US coffee chain Starbucks, Burger King Worldwide and others, as well as McDonald's products as far away as Japan.

On Tuesday, Starbucks said some of its cafes previously sold products containing chicken from Shanghai Husi Food Co, which was suspected of using expired meat and was shut down on Sunday by local regulators. A Tokyo-based spokesman for McDonald's said the company had sourced about a fifth of its Chicken McNuggets from Shanghai Husi Food, a subsidiary of US-based OSI Group, and had halted sales of the product on Monday. Alternative supplies of chicken have been found in Thailand and China, he added.

Fast food chain Dicos, China's third-ranked fast food chain, owned by Ting Hsin International, said it would remove Shanghai Husi Food products from their outlets.

"We will continue to carry out a probe into Shanghai Husi Food and its related firms, to understand whether or not it followed national regulations," Dicos said in a statement.

Burger King and Papa John's International also said they have taken products from Shanghai Husi Food off their shelves and are investigating the matter.

- Reuters

(China Daily USA 07/23/2014 page1)