On March 15, China’s state television blew the whistle on pickles produced amid squalor and put companies using these ingredients under the spotlight
Food giants Master Kong, Uni-President China and KFC have rushed to offset the bad publicity emanating from an annual consumer rights TV show on March 15 that exposed their use of problematic pickles.
The annual “315” gala, named after the world consumer rights day that falls on March 15, revealed that a Hunan-based vegetable processing company known as Chaqi, along with Jinrui Food and other firms from this province in central China, had acquired pickles made in primitive and squalid conditions and supplied them to bigger food companies.
According to state broadcaster CCTV, who sent undercover reporters to get the story, these suppliers didn’t perform quality tests on these pickles.
Workers were pictured stamping on pickled vegetables with bare feet and tossing cigarette butts casually on a heap of pickles that lay in a dirt pit, which is supposed to be the “production site.”
In the CCTV expose and media reports that followed, the products were referred to as “dirt pit pickles.”
According to the official website of Chaqi, its clients include Master Kong, Uni-President, KFC and McDonald's.
On March 15, Uni-President China said that Chaqi was dropped from the company's supplier list five years ago, but Jinrui Food continues to supply the firm with pickles that go into its instant noodles.
Uni-President said it had immediately terminated its contract with Jinrui Food and sealed the substandard products for quality inspection by the market watchdog.
Another company, Master Kong, issued an apology saying it did source pickles from Chaqi, and has immediately cut off its links with the firm.
What’s more, Master Kong, a major producer of instant noodles and other snacks and beverages, said it has moved quickly to take all the problematic products off shelves in Chinese supermarkets.
KFC responded that Chaqi was not a supplier and ordered the company to immediately withdraw false information from its website.
The “315” gala is co-hosted by CCTV and national government agencies on the evening of March 15 every year to safeguard the rights of consumers.