Controversy Over Reusing 'Discarded Bread' at McDonald's Korea: "We Will Ensure Food Safety"

Dismissal of “Employee’s Personal Fault” Raises Suspicions of ‘Tail Cutting’

Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] McDonald's Korea has apologized for using hamburger buns and tortillas that had passed their expiration dates and should have been discarded, stating, "We will ensure thorough inspections and management to guarantee food safety going forward." However, the company dismissed the issue as the fault of individual employees such as store managers, raising suspicions of so-called 'scapegoating' among some observers.

On the 5th, McDonald's Korea explained in a statement released the previous day, "an internal investigation found that at a specific store, expired stickers were reprinted and attached," adding, "disciplinary procedures have been promptly carried out against the employees and managers responsible at the store in question, according to internal protocols."

The company emphasized, "food safety and quality management are McDonald's Korea's most important values," and "to maintain high standards of food safety and raw material quality, products past their expiration dates are immediately discarded, and any violations are met with strict measures in accordance with internal regulations."

Furthermore, to prevent recurrence, they announced measures including ▲ continuous guidance and training to ensure compliance with expiration dates and strengthen food safety ▲ updating tools for inspecting raw materials at stores ▲ reinforcing the raw material inspection system at stores.

This controversy came to light after a public whistleblower reported to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission that at a McDonald's store in Seoul, expired buns and tortillas had stickers with new expiration dates affixed?a practice known as 'sticker swapping'?which had been occurring for nearly a year.

The Commission plans to conduct a first internal investigation and then forward the results to the supervisory agency, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. They stated that if the matter is deemed serious, they may request a police investigation.