THE use of out-of-date meat at the Shanghai-based food processing company at the center of a food safety scandal has been going on for years, a senior employee admitted Monday.

    Zhang Hui, a quality control manager at Husi Food, said it was common practice to re-process expired meat as it was approved by a senior executive, Shanghai TV news reported.

    “It should be the plant director or someone more senior (who makes the decision),” Zhang told officials from Shanghai’s food and drug administration in the TV program.

    In the case of substandard products, no approval was necessary as it was the company’s standard policy to reuse them, Zhang said.

    “Substandard refers to products that fail to meet our clients’ requirements,” he said. “We keep and seal them (for future use).”

    He said he couldn’t remember when the policy was introduced, but believed it had been going on for many years.

    The city authorities are investigating Zhang’s claims and other issues. Several senior Husi personnel are also being questioned by police in relation to the allegations.

    Among other things, Shanghai Husi Food Co. Ltd. — a unit of United States-based OSI Group — is said to have repackaged out-of-date beef and chicken with falsified expiry dates to extend its shelf life, mixed expired meat with fresh cuts, and lied to quality inspectors from its clients.

    The Shanghai company supplies a number of global fast food chains, including McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut.

    OSI Group said it was “appalled” by the scandal and is dealing with the issue “directly and quickly.”

    The factory processed 25,000 tons of food annually, according to its own figures. Earlier this year, it received a food safety award from Shanghai’s Jiading District.

    On Monday, McDonald’s and Yum Brands, the owner of KFC and Pizza Hut franchises, announced they had stopped sourcing meat from Husi. They issued an apology and said their restaurants in China could now face a shortage of certain products.

    Taiwan’s fast-food restaurant chain Dicos said it had withdrawn breakfast sandwiches from its menu because its ham was previously sourced from Husi.

    Swedish retailer Ikea also said it had bought chicken meat for its mainland branches from the factory between September 2012 and August last year.

    The Hong Kong branches of McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway and Starbucks have all denied sourcing meat from Husi.

    Hong Kong lawmakers yesterday urged the SAR government to step up safety tests on meat products imported from the mainland, with one legislator calling for “every batch” of meat to be tested from now on. (SD-Agencies)