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OSI China in Food Scandal
EXCERPTS
THE FOOD SCANDAL
On July 20, 2014, a Chinese television station, Dragon TV, broadcast an undercover report that showed plant workers at the OSI unit in Shanghai repackaging and selling chicken and beef past their expiry dates. Workers at OSI’s Shanghai plant reportedly doctored the production dates of meat to resell chicken nuggets and patties that had passed their sell-by dates. The undercover investigation revealed that the plants were supplying fast-food restaurants rotten meat mixed with safe meat to avoid losses. The footage of the hidden camera inside the processing plant captured workers reprocessing expired meat, working on production lines with no gloves, and picking meat up off the floor and putting it into processing machines. The staff of Shanghai Husi reportedly maintained two record books related to food products, one of which was a fake and solely maintained for quality inspection. The TV report went viral on the internet in China and sparked an immediate outcry from concerned customers accusing foreign companies and the Chinese food-security watchdog of negligence .. |
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THE AFTERMATH
The food scandal at OSI sent shockwaves through the Chinese fast-food industry. The food scandal led to mass public outrage at the country’s outmoded quality assurance supervision, with critics arguing that only in China could foreign companies like OSI get away with selling expired meat products for such a long period of time. The revelations broke public trust in fast-food chains which had previously been seen as safe restaurants operating under foreign brand names. Some critics argued that foreign fast food had gotten messy in China, and that OSI was guilty of the food quality and safety issues plaguing China’s domestic fast-food companies..
THE ROAD AHEAD
According to some analysts, the Shanghai Husi food scandal called for tighter food safety regulations in China. They felt Chinese food safety regulations were lax and that the country should revise its food safety law and impose stiffer penalties on law breakers..
Exhibits
Exhibit I: Timeline of OSI in China
Exhibit II: Revenues of OSI group LLC
Exhibit III: OSI’s Production Facilities in China (as of 2013)
Exhibit IV: Timeline of the Shanghai Husi Food scandal
Exhibit V: Impact of the OSI Food Scandal
Exhibit VI: Food Scandals in China
