McDonald's China denied its latest price
adjustments on Wednesday are related to Sudan I, the carcinogenic
food dye found in some of McDonald's
products in the United Kingdom earlier this month.
The famous fast food brand reduced prices for several products sold on
the Chinese mainland including its chicken fillet burger and cheese
quarterpounder by an average 24 per cent beginning February 23. That was
two days after the UK food quality control watchdog recalled some of
McDonald's products.
In the meantime, some of the gargantuan fast food provider's product
prices have actually increased a tad.
It was on the same day when McDonald's China adopted new prices that
the nation's General Administration of Quality Supervi-sion, Inspection
and Quarantine division, launched a nationwide campaign to inspect
suspicious foods that may contain Sudan I. It said it would ban items that
include the dye.
"The decision to adjust some prices was made after a painstaking market
survey and aims to better cater to our customers," said Chen Yun, manager
of the McDonald's Chang'an outlet in Beijing.
Of the four sauces used by McDonald's which were
reported in the UK to possibly contain Sudan I, mustard
is the only also sold on the Chinese
mainland, said the company.
Responding to some reports that McDonald's outlets in Guangdong have
ceased selling the firm's mustard, an executive from Guangdong Sanyuan
McDonald's Co Ltd yesterday said the report is false.
All the mustard in Guangdong's McDonald outlets was produced on the
Chinese mainland and contains no carcinogenic dye, said the executive who
declined to be named. None of the sauces and other products that are being
sold in Guangdong's McDonald's outlets are imported from the United
Kingdom and European Union where the dye has been found.
He believed the dye will do little to harm the business of the
McDonald's outlets in the province that borders Hong Kong and Macao
special administrative regions.
(China Daily) |