Asia fast-food chains pull meat off menus as Brazil scandal deepens

Cafe De Coral Holdings

23/03/2017 10:56

SEOUL/HONG KONG, March 23 (Reuters) - Major fast-food chains 
in South Korea and Hong Kong have pulled chicken, beef and pork 
off their menus as they scramble to reassure customers about 
food safety as Brazil's meat scandal crisis intensifies. 
    The drastic steps by Burger King and Mom's Touch in South 
Korea, and Hong Kong's top fast food chain Cafe de Coral 
 0341.HK  are aimed at avoiding a customer backlash after 
Brazilian police accused inspectors in the world's biggest 
exporter of beef and poultry of taking bribes to allow sales of 
rotten and salmonella-tainted meats.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1GX0OP  
    The chains are seeking to restore the confidence of 
consumers sceptical of food producers, retailers and restaurants 
after a series of food scares in Asia involving tainted products 
from baby formula to cooking oil.  
    Removing the menu items will add to plummeting demand for 
meat, with poultry particularly hard hit this year by the global 
spread of the deadly bird flu virus, and potentially damage 
Brazil's massive meatpacking industry. 
    China and Hong Kong are the top two importers of Brazilian 
meats, last year buying nearly one-third of the $14 billion 
worth of meat that Latin America's largest economy exported. 
    In South Korea, Mom's Touch, a fried chicken and fast food 
franchise, on Wednesday stopped selling chicken nuggets at its 
1,000 stores even after the government lifted a ban of chicken 
meat from Brazil's BRF SA  BRFS3.SA , the world's largest 
poultry exporter, a day earlier. 
    South Korea ended the ban after just one day after Brazil 
assured Seoul that shipments did not contain tainted products. 
    Even so, the fear of a consumer backlash forced Mom's Touch 
to take the drastic steps after retailers removed Brazilian meat 
from their shelves, said Heo Jun-gyu, a company spokesman. 
    "It's dealing a blow to small-and-medium-sized companies 
like us. It felt like we might be stigmatised if we didn't 
follow the suit," he said. 
    The chain uses BRF chicken for its nuggets and meat from 
Brazil's third-largest pork and poultry processor Aurora 
Alimentos for its chicken burger patty. 
    Burger King Korea stopped selling their Crunch Chicken, 
which uses both domestic and Brazilian meat, due to consumer 
fears, a company spokeswoman said.  
    "We are not sure for the moment when we will start selling 
it again and whether we will replace it with a new menu," she 
said.  
    In Hong Kong, Cafe de Coral wiped some of its top-selling 
items - baked pork chops with fried rice, grilled chicken and 
wings - off its menu, to reassure customers. It did not say if 
it uses Brazilian meat. 
    China on Thursday urged Brazil to hand out harsh punishments 
to those involved in the tainted meat scandal, but offered no 
time frame for lifting a ban on imports from the South American 
country.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1H01TU 
    Top Chinese retailers in the country removed Brazilian beef 
and poultry from their shelves.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1GZ3JE 
    Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Switzerland and South 
Africa have announced partial or all-out bans on Brazilian meat 
imports this week, following measures similar to those taken by 
China, the European Union and Chile. 
    The issue is particularly sensitive for Beijing as it tries 
to improve a poor record on food safety after scandals including 
decades-old "zombie" meat and recycled "gutter oil" for cooking. 
 
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Brazil's meat exports    http://tmsnrt.rs/2n87q7k 
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 (Reporting by Jane Chang in SOEUL, Donny Kwok in HONG KONG and 
by the Beijing newsroom; Writing by Josephine Mason; Editing by 
Christian Schmollinger) 
 ((Josephine.Mason@thomsonreuters.com; +86 10 66271210; Reuters 
Messaging: josephine.mason.reuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: BRAZIL CORRUPTION/FOOD ASIA