Walmart Location in China Investigated for Food Safety Violations
KFC and McDonald’s aren’t the only companies catching food safety scandal heat in China right now – Walmart is now under the microscope as well, as regulators step in to investigate whistleblower allegations of food safety violations at a Walmart outlet in Shenzen.
While last month’s fast food scandal rooted from food safety violations at the manufacturing facility that supplied their meat products, there is no passing the responsibility in Walmart’s case. According to reports, the food safety violation allegations are levied directly at Walmart for stretching food well beyond the point of safety and sanitation with such practices as:
- Frying and selling meat past its expiration date
- Reusing the same cooking oil for up to a month
- Selling expired rice infested with worms
The Shenzhen Municipal Market Supervisory Administration is currently in the middle of an investigation into Walmart’s practices, to determine whether food safety laws had been violated. In a perfect example of the current confusion and lack of standardization that seems to contribute heavily to China’s stream of food safety scandals, reports out of the region have local food safety officials siding with Walmart on the basis that there are no laws on the books specifying when – or if ever – frying oil should be changed. So while old oil may be unsavory, it may also be protected from food safety regulators taking any action.
Meanwhile, Walmart has announced that it launched its own investigation and found nothing wrong:
So far, no conclusions on the part of Shenzen administrative regulators have been reached.
[SOURCE: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2014/08/chinese-walmart-store-investigated-for-food-safety-violations/#.U-o3a9xdXWE]
