What's the buzz

Updated: 2011-08-08 07:55

(China Daily)

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A series of stories regarding some famous foreign fast food chains have aroused heated discussion in China. After Ajisen Ramen was accused of using cheap powders for its noodle soup, KFC's soybean milk was revealed to be made from a cut-price concentrate and McDonald's was accused of chaotic logistics management after live maggots were found in some of its chicken wings. Do you still trust foreign fast food chains? China Daily mobile news readers share their views with us.

The recent scandals have showed us the deficiencies in the foreign brands' management systems. Having won the trust of Chinese consumers, these foreign brands no longer pay so much attention to the quality of their service. That will, of course, have a negative effect on the brands involved in the scandals, and the public may even lose their trust forever. I used to visit KFC and McDonalds often, which I took as signs of fashion and identity, but I don't think that will remain the case after these scandals.

Mo Quan, Lanzhou, Gansu province

I think we should still trust foreign fast food chains, even after the recent scandals. It is only some outlets, not all, that sell bad quality products. We should not judge a forest by a single tree. Besides, domestic brands have equally bad, if not worse, reputations, but no one blames them so fiercely; aren't we still drinking milk from Mengniu and Yili after the melamine scandal? What we should do at present is to find the real problems in our food chain, and solve them, so that we can eat meals without fear.

Song Zhuan, Xiaogan, Hubei province

Why don't these foreign brands sell such bad quality products abroad? It is the loose food safety monitoring system in this country that gave them the opportunity to break the rules in China. Therefore, I think, it is not foreign brands but their localization that has caused the problems.

Zi Su, Beijing

Foreign brands are not the only players involved in food safety scandals; domestic enterprises have never been wholly free from them. Hardly can we find an industry that's without problems in China. It is the inefficiency of law enforcers and lack of media supervision in China that result in such phenomenon. I think we should strengthen them both.

Sun Lizhi, Xuzhou, Jiangsu province

I worked in the food industry ever since having studied food safety in college. I have seen with my own eyes the food problems in China, like unapproved, even poisonous additives, lack of nutritious ingredients, and outdated food being sold. In my opinion, it is lack of self-regulation, which is popular among participants in the whole industry, that has caused the disastrous results. Some managers of China's food industry lack the most basic concern for human life, and the only guiding principle for their activities is that their consumers do not die immediately.

Vivian, Shanghai

He that stays in a fish shop soon gets smelly. The bad food safety environment in China has set an example for foreign brands, which have quickly adopted their Chinese colleagues' disregard for life and quality. It is time to review China's food safety environment as a whole, not just blame some foreign brands.

Zou Zhipeng, Beijing

(China Daily 08/08/2011 page9)