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China probes safety of Yum Brands' KFC chicken products - Yahoo! News

13-1-3 下午10:47

YAHOO! NEWS

China probes safety of Yum Brands' KFC chicken products

Reuters – Fri, Dec 21, 2012

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Yum Brands Inc's fast-food chain KFC was supplied with chicken in China that contained excessive amounts of antibiotics, said food safety authorities investigating allegations of tainted KFC products. The finding by the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) deals a blow to KFC's reputation in China, where it is facing fierce competition from the likes of Taiwanese-owned fried chicken chain Dico and Japanese-style noodle chain Ajisen (China) Holdings Ltd. Yum Brands has forecast a drop in same store China sales in the fourth quarter. Eight of the 19 batches of chicken samples Yum Brands sent to a testing laboratory in 2010 and 2011 contained overly high levels of antibiotics, the SFDA said in a statement on its Website late on Thursday. An investigation is underway to determine whether Yum Brands had taken corrective measures at that time, and the Louisville, Kentucky-based company may face harsh penalties if the probe showed laws had been violated, the SFDA said. On Friday afternoon, Yum said it was cooperating with the Chinese government's review of two poultry suppliers who provided chicken with unapproved levels of antibiotics to KFC, adding that these suppliers "represent an extremely small percentage of product to KFC." In a securities filing dated Dec 21, the company said it does not anticipate a shortage of product supply, though "recent publicity has resulted in moderate sales impact the past few days." Shares in Yum Brands have slumped 4 percent since December 18 when China's state television CCTV reported that some poultry suppliers in eastern Shandong province had fed chickens with anti-viral drugs and hormones to accelerate their growth. The SFDA is looking into the CCTV report and has not released its findings yet, but authorities in...