SEOUL, 30 Nov 2017:
South Korean prosecutors today said they have indicted three officials from a burger patty supplier of the local unit of McDonald’s for selling meat without proper safety checks – after suspicions were raised the fast food chain’s burgers have caused some consumers to get sick due to undercooking.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported the three executives, whose identities were withheld by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, will stand trial on charges of violating the law regarding safety and hygiene control over livestock products.
The office said in a release the trio are accused of overlooking a hygiene test for patties that might be susceptible to a type of bacteria – which causes a form of acute kidney failure known as haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and of still supplying them to McDonald’s Korea.
Prosecutors have been investigating the local unit of the US fast food chain over allegations that several consumers, including a five-year-old girl, became sick after they ate McDonald’s burgers served with undercooked patties.
The young girl’s mother filed a complaint in July seeking a probe into McDonald’s, saying her daughter now suffers from HUS and has to receive dialysis for the rest of her life.
Prosecutors raided McDonald’s Korea’s headquarters and three of its partner firms last month to seize evidence. The chief of the Seoul unit, Joh Ju-yeon has expressed regret over the issue.
– Bernama