Investigation finds no sick chicken processed into food

ZHENGZHOU - Initial investigation results showed no sick chickens were processed to make food by a chicken supplier in Hebi city, central China's Henan province, the provincial animal husbandry bureau said on Thursday.

The Henan Doyoo Group, a chicken supplier for China's Islamic food industry and for multiple fast-food chains in China, including US chain KFC, reportedly processed, and supplied customers with, chickens that had died of disease as a result of poor living conditions, stirring up fresh concerns about food safety.

But the investigation by the local government found that no such chickens were processed and used in foodstuff in Hebi, where the headquarters of Doyoo Group is located, according to the investigation team.

Doyoo Group employs Islamic observers to guarantee that the company supplies healthy, live chickens in accordance with Islamic requirements, according to a member of the investigation team.

"We found in our investigation that the sickened-to-death chickens in Doyoo's farms were not made into food. Instead, they were retrieved and handled in Doyoo's processing plants," said the team member.

The team will continue their investigation into Doyoo's other chicken farms in Henan, and the results will be published accordingly.

In response to the rumored scandal, Yum! Brands Inc, the parent company of KFC, issued a statement on KFC China's official Sina Weibo account. The company said it is closely monitoring the case and will take strict measures if Doyoo is found to be guilty of the scandal.

China suffered another fowl-related food safety scandal recently. News of tainted chicken sold by Yum! Brands Inc, was reported on Dec 18 by China Central Television, which conducted an undercover investigation of the company's suppliers in east China's Shandong province.

The investigation revealed that some suppliers were using excessive amounts of antiviral drugs and hormones to make their chickens grow more quickly.

Yum! Brands apologized to customers in China on Jan 10, admitting shortcomings in the company's self-supervision process and a lack of internal communication.