McDonald's might use questionable meat.

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Thought I'd give you guys head up.

Chinese chicken: Which fast food chain may serve you this scary import?

Chinese chicken: Which fast food chain may serve you this scary import?
Mitch Lipka
Oct 29th 2009 at 3:45PM Filed under: Food, Health, Consumer Ally

Would you eat chicken imported from China? Overwhelmingly, 96% of WalletPop readers say they wouldn't touch the stuff.

Now that a 2004 ban on chicken imported from China has been lifted, it could be awfully tempting for some of America's favorite fast-food chains to buy the cheap meat. We asked seven of the biggest fast food chains in the U.S. whether they would buy the chicken when it becomes available. Three said they will only buy American chicken. Three would not say what they'll do. And one, a very big one, left the door wide open.
McDonald's, the maker of McNuggets and the McChicken sandwich, would not rule out using chicken products imported from the land of recalls and food safety disasters.

"As a matter of practice, we review potential supplies of raw materials globally that could meet our high quality, food safety and value screens to our customers," McDonald's vice president Walt Riker told WalletPop.

But, Riker did not want to discuss the matter further. "It is inappropriate to project anything more based on a hypothetical and speculation," he said.

It really isn't that big of a leap for McDonald's to get into the Chinese chicken game. After all, some of America's biggest chicken concerns -- such as Tyson -- are advocating to open the chicken coop door to China. And Happy Meals already have a fair amount of Chinese components -- the toys, obviously, and the apple juice. (To be fair to McDonald's, most apple juice sold in America is made using a powdery concentrate from otherwise inedible apples grown in China and shipped around the world in 55-gallon drums.)

What did the other fast food chains have to say?

Kentucky Fried Chicken strongly affirmed its commitment to a USA-only chicken policy.

"As you may know, in the U.S. our chicken on the bone is delivered fresh, not frozen," KFC spokesman Rick Maynard said. "It is all sourced locally, in the United States. All of our poultry products served at KFC U.S. restaurants come from the U.S."

The Popeyes chicken chain also said it would stick with American chicken.

"All Popeyes' chicken supply, including prepared chicken products, is procured from domestic distributors and not sourced internationally," the company said in a statement sent to WalletPop. "Popeyes is aware of the possibility that the ban on imported Chinese chicken products could be lifted. However, the relationship with our domestic distributors will not be affected in the event this should occur."

And Wendy's took the same posture. "All domestic restaurants use U.S. chickens," senior vice president. Denny Lynch said. "We have no plans to change."

Burger King, Chick-Fil-A and Arby's did not respond to questions from WalletPop about chicken from China. Only processed chicken products, not whole chickens, would be imported.

The temptation to use Chinese manufacturing facilities and buy products from China has proven almost irresistible to many American companies. You can usually get what you need from China a whole lot cheaper than you could if it was made here, even though it has to be shipped halfway around the world.

But food safety in China has had a terrible track record. Just last year, tens of thousands of chickens had to be killed after being exposed to avian flu (following the outbreak in 2004 that led to the U.S.ban). At about the same time last year, nearly 300,000 babies took ill in China after drinking melamine-tainted powdered milk. Oh yeah, and that same melamine was also found in chicken feed -- which led it to also being found in Chinese chickens. And that's not even mentioning how many people's pets died in 2007 after eating pet food with a tainted ingredient that came from China.

George T. Haley, a professor and author of "New Asian Emperors: The Business Strategies of the Overseas Chinese," said the Chinese central government is becoming more responsive to U.S. government requests to raise their safety standards, although food safety is monitored by local and regional authorities.

"The problem is well known and the FDA has substantially increased its testing of Chinese processed foods and chemicals," Haley said. "While the Central government in Beijing has limited capacity to do very much, it is cooperating with U.S....authorities."

Still, he and others are concerned that the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- which, under the new law that lifts the ban, would be charged with inspecting Chinese facilities and making the findings public -- is not up to the challenge.

"Due to significant budget cuts by previous administrations, (food safety inspectors) cannot do the job," Haley said.

Food safety expert Mark Jarvis, CEO of global food safety and consulting firm Steritech, said Americans should be concerned about food coming from China.

"China has a very difficult challenge in the lack of confidence people have with any consumable products from China," he said. "There have just been a lot of issues from China...that are grounds for real concern. Although the government is saying all the right things...I think they've got a long way to go."

And Jarvis said he's not so sure having inspections in China will really mean all that much, given the problems the government has had policing food safety in the U.S.

Former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Import Administration David Spooner said politically the U.S. had little choice but to lift the ban. China had filed a World Trade Organization complaint over the ban and he said they rightly accused the U.S. of singling them out -- something forbidden by WTO rules. He said the requirements placed on the Chinese -- allowing U.S. inspectors into their plants and then publishing their findings -- still might be placing too much of a burden on the Chinese to comply with WTO rules. And the Chinese might not agree to the terms, Spooner said.

But if the imports do start, he noted that consumers could end up with the chicken whether they want it or not.

"Poultry doesn't have to be labeled," he said. "I don't think consumers will know the poultry they are buying is from China."
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In the US, aren't products are required to have their source on the packaging? I know that meat and seafood has country of origin stamped on it. I used to buy freeze dried veggies until I learned that they were coming from Vietnam (information added to packaging).

If we don't know where restaurant food is coming from, it's yet another reason to eat at home.
 
sallylou said:
In the US, aren't products are required to have their source on the packaging? I know that meat and seafood has country of origin stamped on it. I used to buy freeze dried veggies until I learned that they were coming from Vietnam (information added to packaging).

If we don't know where restaurant food is coming from, it's yet another reason to eat at home.
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And that is why I am a vegetarian. I also eat at home so I know what goes into my dinner.
 
Some people refused to eat at the Krystal....said the meat in their hamburgers was "horse meat."....I dunno!....Have to keep at eagle out also when you buy food at the grocery stores, especially packaged stuff like rice, oatmeal, corn meal, flour, etc.

Even can goods can have shyt in them....what was the old saying?...."You are what you eat?"....We're at the mercy of food distributors, even restaurant cooks!
 
From one of my lecture class at University, recently talking about beef exports.

McDonald's from USA do buy cheap beef (low score body condition cows) from Australia. They add in fat and cheap beef for their hamburgers. :shock:
 
one of the reasons I avoid fast food-
even if meat is from U.S., the quality/raising conditions of meat cannot be very high given the prices of fast food. Cheap food means questionable practices, regardless of where food is from. Cheap products also affect living conditions of those who produce/harvest/package food, so everything really all relates. "low cost" comes at a very high price
 
Ugh, thanks for link so no more McDonald's for me, I prefer chicken burger from Hardee's, also Wendy is good for nuggets.

I forgot about Popeye, I tried it and it is good.
 
I want USA to resign from WTO so I don't trust WTO due situation with China.
 
~SG~ said:
From one of my lecture class at University, recently talking about beef exports.

McDonald's from USA do buy cheap beef (low score body condition cows) from Australia. They add in fat and cheap beef for their hamburgers. :shock:
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Yes. That is why the texture of the meat in a McDonald's hamburger is so squishy. All that added fat.
 
I never eat at MickeyD's anymore. I'm glad that my youngest out grew wanting to go there. I used to take him there for the play area.
 
see books "Fast Food Nation", and "Meat Market" and anything by Prof. Marion Nestle; also anything by Francis and Anna Lappe
 
Did ya'll see Supersize Me? It's worth renting if you haven't seen it. Couldn't eat McDonalds again for about a year. :eek3:
 
jillio said:
Yes. That is why the texture of the meat in a McDonald's hamburger is so squishy. All that added fat.
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Yup, I'm realized that their ground beef is lame, worse than ground beef from wal fart.
 
yup, sally, hubby and I saw it! nothing surprising but am glad we saw it-
I have not eaten at McDonald's since I was in eighth grade. last time I ate at Wendy's was about 6 years ago. Those two were the only typical "fast food" I ever did have...once in long while I eat at Subway, avoiding the cheese and mayo, focusing on lean protein and lots of extra veggies beyond what would usually go in the typical sandwich and getting the most whole-grain bread as possible. Apple, no chips, no soda. Sometimes my hubby and I do get something from Chipotle; he gets the typical meaty burrito; I get black beans and veggies,w/guacomole, no cheese, no sour, no rice.
 
sallylou said:
Did ya'll see Supersize Me? It's worth renting if you haven't seen it. Couldn't eat McDonalds again for about a year. :eek3:
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There was also a case last year where a guy lost a bunch of weight eating only McD's. He ordered the salads and left dressing off, as well as the chicken sandwiches, which in all truth aren't that bad without all the extra crap on it. Didn't drink soda either, which is just about as bad nutritionally as the worst food their.

It all just depends on how you eat there. I also wouldn't be surprised if the majority of people who have gained weight from McD's also have the rest of their diet screwed up as well. Eating a big mac won't make your waistline grow without some help.

I love fast food though :) it's my guilty pleasure since I cook for myself 95% of the time and I am not the best cook. Chicken and rice gets old after a while.
 
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