No Big Macs: Total recall at scandal-hit meat supplier in China

No Big Macs. No McNuggets. No burgers. McDonald's restaurants in China stop selling meat products amid food safety crisis

SHANGHAI, China -- Scandal-hit Chinese food supplier Shanghai Husi Food has recalled all meat products following an internal review by its U.S. owner, OSI Group. David McDonald, president and chief operation officer at OSI Industries, confirmed his company had "withdrawn from the marketplace" all products made by its Shanghai Husi subsidiary. He also indicated that OSI would make "sweeping changes" to its China operations, including senior personnel changes.

The statement came amid an escalating food safety scandal sparked by a recent TV documentary showing out-of-date being processed and packaged at the Shanghai Husi facility. The scandal initially forced McDonald's in Hong Kong to withdraw chicken nuggets from its menu, but has now extended to all meat products and many McDonald's restaurants across China and Japan.

McDonald's said in a statement Monday it had withdrawn all products from the Husi group in China. "As a result, we are now only offering a limited menu in our restaurants around the country."

"We are leveraging our network of suppliers to resume our full menu offerings. Some restaurants will resume offering full menu in early August and some may take a little longer. We apologize to our customers for causing them such concern and inconvenience," the statement added.

The scandal widened further as the extend of Husi's distribution came to light. The plant is used as a supplier by many well-known fast food chains to supply their operations in the region:

Fast food chains supplied by Shanghai Husi:
- McDonald's
- Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)
- Pizza Hut
- Burger King
- Papa John's
- Starbucks

Food safety has become an important issue for Chinese consumers after dairy products tainted with the industrial chemical melamine led to the deaths of six infants in 2008 and left many thousands sick. The latest scandal further erodes perceptions that foreign-owned food processing companies in China have higher safety standards than locally owned rivals.