Chinese district regulator inspects Pizza Hut stores over food safety issues

A Pizza Hut cafe is viewed in a shopping mall in Shanghai, China September 18, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Music

BEIJING, July 21 (Reuters) – A Chinese district regulator said it is carrying out inspections of 45 Pizza Hut shops in Beijing right after a single was accused by media of food stuff basic safety breaches.

The marketplace regulator of Beijing’s Haidian district said late on Wednesday that it experienced visited the branch in question and looked at records of food materials buys, storage and expiry dates.

The chain run by Yum China (9987.HK) came under scrutiny before this 7 days just after the Beijing News described two of its suppliers in Beijing, such as the a single in Haidian district, allegedly had pretend expiration dates on merchandise and experienced reused cooking oil over 10 days.

Pizza Hut said it experienced suspended operation of the two stores and was carrying out its personal probe.

“We attach excellent worth to the problems described by the media,” it reported on its Weibo account on Wednesday. It declined to give additional comment.

The inspections come months following an additional Pizza Hut branch in Beijing was fined 50,000 yuan ($7,394) by Fengtai district marketplace authorities for employing expired foodstuff resources. Pizza Hut has additional than 2,600 outlets in China.

Chinese individuals and media have become ever more sensitive about client rights and food protection after a collection of scandals, and retain a near eye on the conduct of significant brand names, in particular those from abroad.

Sector regulators in eight Chinese metropolitan areas carried out inspections of Starbucks (SBUX.O) shops soon after the U.S. espresso chain explained in December it had observed foods safety troubles at two shops. go through far more

($1 = 6.7621 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Reporting by Sophie Yu and Brenda Goh Modifying by Stephen Coates

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