OSI Group Protesting Judgment of Chinese Court

OSI Group LLC, a world renowned food processing company, was at the center of a major food scandal in 2014 for supplying expired meat to multinational food giants including McDonald’s and Yum Brands is appealing the recent financial penalties of RMB 2.4 million and imprisonment of 10 people from top management of the company handed down by a Chinese court.

The company which was exposed by an undercover reporter was involved in the reprocessing and distribution of expired and spoiled meat. Food labels and the expiry dates were also altered and meats distributed to many multinational food giants, including McDonald’s, Yum Brands, and Burger King. The company apologized for its illegal activities at the time of the scandal but is now appealing decision handed down by China’s high court.

The company was judged to have violated the Food Safety Law of China, as well as storage requirements stipulated in “GB 16869-2005 Fresh and Frozen Poultry Product”. OSI Group is one of the world’s largest meat and vegetable processing group. The scandal has already had a great influence on China’s food industry from a regulatory, policy and market perspective. The damage it has done to OSI’s reputation and the drop in consumer confidence has also been a major factor in the company’s decision to appeal the court’s ruling. It is also the obligation of China’s CFDA to implement new supervisory and enforcement procedures to ensure the scandal is not repeated.