Beijing Municipal Food Safety Office found Sudan I, a
carcinogenic food coloring, on Friday in food served at a KFC
outlet in the city's Chaoyang District, they announced on
Saturday.
The banned dye was found in spice pickle powder, used in three
KFC foods: spiced drumsticks, spiced chicken wings and popcorn
chicken, the office said.
The Food Safety Office and the Beijing Entry-Exit Inspection and
Quarantine Department have asked KFC to suspend sale of the
products, and they will only be sold again once they pass
inspections.
According to Zhu Dayu, an executive of Yum (the parent company
of KFC), one of their suppliers, the Zhongshan-based Griffith Food
Company, found in its records that Sudan I-tainted spice powder
provided by Hongfang Flavor (Kunshan) Co., Ltd was used in sauces
for some KFC products before January 12.
Griffith issued statements last Friday saying that they had
recalled their affected products.
Zhu said that the company had always asked for food certificates
from suppliers, but problems in the upstream suppliers had not been
discovered.
He said the company has raised requirements for all suppliers,
who must now provide analysis certificates to ensure the safety of
their products.
Last Wednesday, KFC removed New Orleans wings and drumstick
burgers from the menu at more than 1,000 Chinese outlets, and
destroyed all tainted products, after discovering a supplier had
used the Sudan I dye in ingredients.
The Hefei Municipal Food Safety Department in east China's Anhui
Province also checked KFC outlets, and seven were also
forbidden to sell foods found to be tainted with Sudan I.
Sudan I, an industrial dye used in petrol and shoe polish but
banned in food, triggered a food scare across much of Europe last
month.
KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) first entered China in 1987, one of
the first western fast food chains to do so. It now has 1,200
outlets in 260 cities across the country.
(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2005)