McDonald's Hong Kong Suspends Shrimp Burgers Over Taiwan Antibiotic Find
Crhk · 2 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
McDonald's Hong Kong has suspended sales of its shrimp burger products as a precautionary measure after Taiwan's McDonald's discovered trace amounts of a synthetic antibiotic in its newly launched shrimp burgers. The antibiotic nitrofurazone and its metabolites were found at 0.7 parts per billion in imported shrimp patties used in the products. Hong Kong McDonald's confirmed its shrimp patties come from a different batch sourced from Thailand, but still pulled the items from shelves to ease public concerns.
Key Points
- Taiwan McDonald's launched "Seafood Crispy Shrimp Burger" and "Seafood Crispy Double Shrimp Burger" on July 15, only to halt sales the next day after detecting nitrofurazone and its metabolites at 0.7 ppb in imported shrimp patties .
- While the manufacturer had provided valid seafood inspection documents, Taiwan McDonald's self-sampled the batch and found the antibiotic non-compliant with food safety standards, prompting immediate removal from all restaurants starting 10:30 am .
- Hong Kong McDonald's stated its "Tasty Shrimp Burger" series uses shrimp patties from a Thailand-based global McDonald's supplier with a different formula and batch number than Taiwan's products .
- Despite the different supply chain, Hong Kong McDonald's announced preventive suspension of "Tasty Shrimp Burger" and related products, with the official app showing items like Fish Filet Shrimp Burger and Pineapple Shrimp Burger as currently unavailable .
- The detected antibiotic can trigger allergic reactions in sensitive individuals and has shown carcinogenic potential in animal studies .
Why It Matters
This incident underscores how a single supply chain contamination can ripple across markets, forcing even unrelated regional operations to take preventive action to maintain consumer confidence in food safety standards .
Taiwan McDonald's is offering refunds to customers who purchased the affected burgers on July 15 and 16, with reimbursement arrangements expected within one week .
This incident underscores how a single supply chain contamination can ripple across markets, forcing even unrelated regional operations to take preventive action to maintain consumer confidence in food safety standards .
Taiwan McDonald's is offering refunds to customers who purchased the affected burgers on July 15 and 16, with reimbursement arrangements expected within one week .