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Shanghai official orders swift action over food safety problems
http://www.ecns.cn/2014/07-28/126468.shtml
Jul 28th 2014, 04:55
2014-07-28 13:55 Shanghai Daily
The US owner of scandal-hit Shanghai Husi Food Co has issued a statement saying it is removing all products made by its subsidiary in the city from the market as senior officials flew in to deal with the crisis.
"We are compelled to withdraw all products manufactured by Shanghai Husi from the marketplace and we are also conducting a thorough internal investigation into any possible failures on the part of current and former senior management," it said.
In its latest announcement, the OSI Group said it had established a new management team in China and added that it would take "swift and decisive" action against those responsible for any malpractice that was uncovered during its investigation into the use of outdated meat.
OSI said that its China operations would be managed by global management in accordance with global standards of quality management.
Senior officials of the group, including its chairman and CEO Sheldon Lavin, have already arrived in Shanghai and are due to hold a press conference this afternoon after a meeting with Shanghai Food and Drug Administration in the morning.
At a conference convened to discuss the scandal, Shanghai Party Secretary Han Zheng yesterday ordered authorities in the city to maintain the strictest supervision and management of food safety.
Any companies that break the law in Shanghai must be severely punished, Han said.
He said the media who played an important role in uncovering the scandal should be supported and protected. Whistleblowers should also be protected.
Emphasizing the importance of stricter management by the government, Han said only swift, active and timely action on food safety problems could keep them at bay.
Han ordered accurate and timely information on the Husi scandal to be made public.
During the meeting, the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration and city police reported the latest findings of their investigations into the scandal.
Staff at Shanghai Husi had been falsifying production dates on processed meat in order to extend its shelf life, officials from the city's food and drug administration said.
More than 3,000 batches of suspect products had been sold by the time the incident came to light last week when a local television program found Shanghai Husi staff using meat that was long past its sell-by date.
The China Food and Drug Administration has ordered food watchdogs to track these batches down. The remaining 1,000-plus batches have been sealed. A total of 144.1 tons of chicken nuggets, meat patties and steaks had been sealed for laboratory tests.
The scandal has embroiled several global food chains, including McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks, as well as Chinese businesses.
Five staff at the Shanghai subsidiary, said to include its head and its quality manager, have been detained by police.
The scandal has triggered suspension of sales of food products linked to the company across China and overseas. McDonald's and FamilyMart in Japan said they had halted sales of all food products linked to Husi.
Shanghai's determination to punish the wrongdoers in the scandal has been welcomed in China, where food safety remains a big concern for consumers. But some voice their dissatisfaction over the role of the supervisory body in the scandal, Xinhua news agency said.
"The head of Shanghai's food watchdog should resign since the supervision did not work at all in the scandal," Xinhua quoted microblogging user Longmianzimian as saying.
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