McDonald 's restaurants in many Chinese cities have been eerily quiet this past week . The fast food giant is enormously popular in China where it has 2,000 outlets , each one typically overflowing with hungry crowds . But many McDonald 's addicts have been forced to go cold turkey as numerous branches have yanked flagship burgers off the menu amid a tainted meat scandal . The food scare broke when a video surfaced in Chinese media last week , showing appalling practices in a Shanghai food-processing factory that supplies ingredients to many international restaurant brands . Since then , the tainted meat supply has been found to reach across China , all the way to Hong Kong , and even to Japan . How was the scandal uncovered ? A reporter from a Shanghai broadcaster secretly filmed inside the food processing plant of Shanghai Husi Food , a subsidiary of U.S.-based food supply giant OSI Group . The footage captured workers handling food with their bare hands . Several scenes showed them picking up meat that had fallen on the floor and returning it directly into the processing machine . One worker , his face concealed behind a surgical mask , turned to the camera and stated , `` foul meat , '' referring to the meat being handled . Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) subsequently investigated the factory and found that expired beef and chicken products were processed and repackaged with new expiration dates . Amongst the tainted products , they were able to trace forged production dates on more than 4,300 cases of smoked beef patties , with more than 3,000 cases already sold . Who was affected ? Husi had been supplying chicken and beef products to branches of McDonald 's , Papa John 's , Burger King , Starbucks , KFC , and Pizza Hut in several cities in China . Since the scandal broke , all the brands have cut ties with Husi 's parent company OSI Group , except for McDonald 's . The golden arches will continue to work with the food supplier in China , eventually shifting to a Husi food plant in Henan province , which was described as the `` newest state-of-the-art facility '' by OSI CEO Sheldon Lavin . McDonald 's has worked with OSI for more than half a century internationally , and for more than 22 years in mainland China , a spokesperson surnamed Xu told CNN . Meanwhile , beef and chicken products at most McDonald 's in northern and central China are unavailable . Branches in southern China , which use a different meat supplier , are largely unaffected . Xu also said the products will slowly return to menus after August 3 . In Hong Kong , McDonald 's previously stated that it does not use products from Husi . It later backtracked the claim after local government issued a ban on the import and sales of Husi products . As a result of the ban , chicken nuggets , chicken filets , as well as several vegetable products and iced lemon tea are now temporarily unavailable at the city 's McDonald 's branches . Japan 's McDonald 's have also been affected as 20 % of the meat for chicken nuggets there were supplied by Husi . It has since stopped importing chicken from China and introduced a tofu and fish version of the McNugget . The scandal has led to `` negative impact on sales and consumer confidence , '' the company 's Japanese unit said in a statement . `` Our sales and profit expectations have been reduced . '' Who was held responsible ? Although no one has fallen sick as a direct result of the tainted meat supply , Shanghai 's FDA has closed the Husi plant at the center of the scandal , and detained five employees for questioning . Meanwhile , Shanghai 's top official has pledged to mete out `` severe punishment '' for anyone involved in the incident , China Daily reported . OSI Group is conducting its own internal investigation , promising `` swift and decisive action '' against those responsible . It has also announced a number of organizational changes that it says will better ensure food safety at its China subsidiaries . This includes taking the previously separate and decentralized China operations and shifting them under the global management umbrella . It will also launch an Asia Quality Control Center in Shanghai and a three-year , RMB 10 million ( $ 1.6 million ) food safety campaign . Is China doing enough for food safety ? Food safety has long been a top concern for China , affecting domestic and foreign companies . In 2008 , a major scandal erupted over tainted infant formula that killed several babies and left thousands more ill . Earlier this year , Wal-Mart recalled donkey meat after it was found to be contaminated with fox meat . Yum Brands , the owner of KFC and Pizza Hut , has just emerged from a food safety scandal that began in late 2012 . The latest Husi scandal comes amid a revision of China 's food safety laws . Earlier this month , the National People 's Congress released a draft version of the law on its website , seeking public opinion . It promised harsher punishment for offenders . `` Over past years , punishment for food safety violators has been increased but it still lags far behind that in developed countries . There should be much higher punishment for offenders , '' an anonymous industry insider told China Daily .
Expired meat was repackaged and sold to fast food chains in China . McDonald 's is the only brand that will continue to work with the meat supplier . China has 2,000 McDonald 's branches across the country . China 's food safety law is currently being revised .