A customer eats inside a KFC restaurant in Beijing. China's food safety agency on Tuesday announced a nationwide inspection of processing factories and meat suppliers used by a company accused of selling expired beef and chicken.
The owner of the KFC and Pizza Hut restaurant chains says a scandal over food safety in China has hurt sales and might be severe enough to cut into the company's global profit.
Yum Brands Inc., in a filing with the US securities regulator, said Thursday the scandal over accusations Shanghai Husi Food Inc. sold expired beef and chicken has caused a "significant, negative impact" on sales.
It gave no financial details and said it was too early to know when sales might rebound. But it said that if the "significant sales impact" continues, it might hurt this year's profit.
Chinese authorities have detained five Husi employees but have yet to confirm a TV report the company sold expired meat to KFC and McDonald's Corp. restaurants in China.