|
|
|
You can get e-magazine links on WhatsApp. Click here
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sudan 1 found in Chinese KFC
|
|
Sunday, 01 May, 2005, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
|
|
Mumbai
|
The banned food colouring Sudan 1, a carcinogen, has been discovered in batches of roast chicken wings and chicken burgers on sale at KFC fast food outlets in China. KFC is the second US-based company in China to fall foul of the food scare following revelations earlier this month that Heinz products were also found to contain the illegal colouring.
Although the colouring was found in the sauce of just a few servings, KFC's parent company Yum Brands said that it would stop selling the offending items in all of its Chinese outlets - of which there are more than 1,000. "We feel deeply sorry for this food safety accident and promise it will never happen again," Yum said in a statement, adding that it had found a new supplier of sauce for the products, which would be back on sale in the next week or so.
"Even though we had asked Yum's suppliers many times to guarantee their products did not contain Sudan 1, and received written confirmation from them, we regret to say we found it in ingredients," Yum said in its statement.
"We're now investigating the supplier in question, to determine its responsibility in using Sudan 1 in ingredients provided."
The colouring was discovered after China stepped up its food safety checks following the massive product recall in the UK, where Worcestershire Sauce and other products made by Premier Foods were found to contain Sudan 1. These new Chinese checks also uncovered the Heinz contamination. China is an important market for KFC - its second largest after the US - and the company will be concerned at the impact of the recall on its business. KFC was the first fast food restaurant to enter China, back in 1987, and a consumer survey by AC Nielsen carried out last year to coincide with the opening of the 1,000th KFC outlet in China showed that the chain has wide consumer appeal and is considered the most popular international brand throughout China.
Whatever the fallout for Heinz or KFC, they are unlikely to be the last food companies - domestic or foreign - to be implicated in food safety scares in China. This is not because of an expected increase in the number of food safety concerns, however, but rather because the Chinese authorities are expected to step up their efforts to nip such concerns in the bud.
According to a report in the China Daily newspaper, food safety has drawn the most consumer complaints in the past 12 months, and the issue occupied a considerable amount of debating time at the recent People's Congress, suggesting that food safety is now firmly at the top of the Chinese legislative agenda.
Indeed, just this month, the local authorities in the city of Shanghai unveiled plans for a three-year programme designed to establish an evaluation system and a quick response network, as well as improving local rules and regulations covering the way food is handled and prepared.
The aim is to root out illegal underground food makers, as well as to make food producers and retailers more responsible by introducing quality control clauses into their purchasing contracts.
Other Chinese regions are expected to follow suit - in the current absence of national legislation - but it is likely to be some time before China has a fully functioning food safety network. Nonetheless, growing consumer awareness of the potential risks of some food products, driven by high-profile cases such as Sudan 1, is likely to play a major role is accelerating the process.
- foodproductiondaily.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|