Consumers Must Not Become ‘Mindless Fanatics’ of Western Fast Food

Following revelations regarding the use of expired meat by Husi Food Company, a supplier of McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and other Western fast food franchises, authorities in Shanghai have discovered that groups within the company may have also been guilty of illegal behavior in their production operations. To date, law enforcement has taken five of the persons involved into custody.

The issue has been exposed and the products in question have essentially been taken care of. Logic dictates that consumers should be on heightened alert toward this kind of unethical and illegal behavior. But according to news investigations, several McDonald's restaurants in Beijing are still selling the McNugget products that have since been taken off the menu in the Shanghai area, and there has been no noticeable daily drop in customers in those restaurants despite the revealed dangers in food safety. Apparently, the same is true in other regions across China.

Despite full knowledge that these Western fast food restaurants have experienced food safety concerns, consumers are still flocking to them by the droves. It is a phenomenon that would be equally bewildering in any industry. Even more shocking is the fact that some people are posting articles online expressing their "thankfulness and support for Western fast food," with at least one person claiming that McDonald's and KFC are also victims in the affair. What exactly does this paradoxical attitude indicate?

In this instance, it might seem that McDonald's, KFC and other Western fast food chains are also victims, but this is not the case. Every company must take responsibility for its products, and such responsibility must begin with the supply of its raw materials. It goes without saying that the quality of these materials determines the quality of the finished product. Husi Food Company meat products are the primary ingredient in Western fast food. How can these restaurants absolve themselves of blame in allowing problematic ingredients to make it through the chain of food production? Although one might say that Husi has duped McDonald's, McDonald's has also failed its customers. Can consumers really be told to take up their beef directly with Husi?

Still, many people choose to patronize Western fast food joints, an attitude that is well worth some reflection. For example, some believe that now is actually the safest time to eat at McDonald's and KFC. At first, this sort of reasoning appears sound. In the wake of such a publicized incident, the first order of business for a responsible company must be to strengthen every precautionary measure against similar missteps in the future. The problem is that the expired meat incident has already demonstrated the negligence in quality control of the Western fast food chains involved. How do consumers know that other problems do not exist elsewhere along the supply chain for these companies?

Others believe that regardless of how bad Western fast food gets, it will still be safer than domestic food products. But in truth, so-called "Western fast food" in this globalized age refers more to Western branding, while its products are, by and large, produced locally. As a case in point, the Shanghai Husi Food Company is a foreign-owned firm, but the meat that it processes originates from within China. Even more importantly, there is no longer any need to question quality control issues with Western fast food chains. This fact cannot simply be dismissed because other companies may or may not have similar quality control issues. Selectively ignoring established facts, even to the point of defending the accused, is, however one looks at it, a form of cultural self-abasement.

Consumers must not become "mindless fanatics" of Western fast food. Regardless of whether it is Western brands or our nation's companies, they all must adhere to regulations and win consumers' confidence through quality control. And any company that experiences problems with quality must be stopped and punished. This is a matter of fact, not ideology or picking sides. Regardless of whether one uses the idea to "protect our nation's companies" as a defense or "Western fast food companies are also victims" as an excuse, it is all, objectively speaking, a perversion of the truth that turns the concept of right and wrong on its head.