China: McDonalds breaks ties with chicken feed supplier

US fast food chain McDonald’s has stopped sourcing chicken from Liuhe Group Co, one of the largest chicken suppliers in China, after it was named in the recent KFC scandal involving antibiotic fed chickens.

A Liuhe factory was shut down for selling chickens with excessive antibiotic residues.

“Liuhe is a secondary supplier to McDonald’s (in China). As our responsibility to consumers, McDonald’s has temporarily stopped using raw chicken materials from Liuhe Group starting December 18. No chicken product sold in McDonald’s restaurants is tied to Liuhe now,” the company said in an e-mail to publication Global Times.

McDonald’s did not mention which company has replaced Liuhe as its chicken supplier.

The Shanghai Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) sample-tested McDonald’s chicken products for antibiotic residues after the watchdog announced December 20 that it had found excessive drug residues in Yum! Brands Inc’s samples, a supplier to KFC, in China.