KFC Chickens 'Fed So Many Illegal Hormones They Are Unable To Walk'

There is a view in Asia that famous fast food brands from the West are subjected to more rigorous food health standards than their Asian competitors. There is apparently a trust among consumers instilled by Colonel Sander’s and Ronald McDonald’s smiling faces, and the premium attached to such brands.

But this reputation has been damaged by Chinese state TV reports that chickens served at KFC and McDonald’s restaurants in China have been fed illegal, toxic drugs and kept under constant lights to make them grow faster, and thereby provide more profits for their unscrupulous producers.

China Central Television’s investigation, which it said was based on a year of undercover reporting, alleged that some of KFC's suppliers in Shandong had given at least 18 kinds of antibiotics to chickens to keep them healthy. The birds also had lights turned on around the clock to make them eat constantly, with a chicken growing from 30g to 3.5kg in just 40 days.

A farmer in Gaomi told CCTV he would also mix a hormone into the feed and the birds would become so fat that some were unable to walk. Another farmer said they had to change antibiotics periodically after chickens developed resistance to the drugs.

They said their chickens were bought by the Liuhe Group, which is based in Qingdao, and reportedly sells 40 tonnes of chicken a month to KFC's Chinese subsidiary. When the chickens were sent to be slaughtered, workers would fabricate records about how they were raised before they were shipped off to KFC’s parent company, Yum Brands, which also owns Pizza Hut.

KFC said it would co-operate with Chinese authorities in investigating the reports and would punish its suppliers harshly if they had fed antiviral drugs and growth hormones to its chickens.

"KFC attaches great importance to the contents of the media report and will actively co-operate with the relevant government departments' investigation," KFC said. "If (we) find out that our suppliers have conducted any illegal activity, (we) will handle it strictly.”

It was an about turn from last month, when a Yum Brands spokesman dismissed as "untrue" reports that some KFC chickens in China were being fed toxic additives.

McDonald's said its chicken and raw materials pass through independent, third-party laboratory tests. "Our chicken products comply with stringent food quality standards and comply with the relevant government standards. Please, everyone, don't worry about eating it," a spokesman for the Golden Arches pleaded.

China has struggled to rein in health violations in its vast food sector despite repeated pledges to deal with the problem. The country has been plagued by news reports of fake cooking oil, tainted milk - and even watermelons that explode from absorbing too much fertiliser.

:: My bestselling food book Down And Out In Padstow And London is available in eBook and paperback.

Cambodia’s Booming – So Why Is It The ‘Least Thriving Country In The World’?

An article I wrote for Khmer 440...

I read a column in the Bangkok Post this week, entitled Poor Cambodia Not Looking So ‘Poor’ Anymore, which began as a thank you letter congratulating Cambodian PM Hun Sen for his hospitality during the ASEAN summit.

The letter took a swipe at the obvious wealth in Phnom Penh, mentioning how everyone was now the proud owner of a Lexus, and questioning whether the Kingdom still needed the huge amount of foreign aid it receives, when the streets were so obviously paved in gold.

Although the article pondered whether the word “poor” now only applies to the rural population, and whether any of the aid money actually reaches Cambodians in need, it’s a shame that foreign correspondents didn’t stray further than the scrubbed streets of the capital, which had been cleared of beggars and other unsightly features, and go in search of the truth themselves.

A quick trip into villages far from main roads would have shown the appalling poverty, malnutrition, stunted growth, and lack of education and healthcare. It would have hammered home how little money has trickled down to the people it’s supposed to help. “What’s that? There’s a new Range Rover coming out?” And that’s just the NGOs.

John Macgregor, from the Lom Orng Organisation, an NGO which doesn’t use SUVs or consultants, and is helping flood victims in north-west Cambodia, gives a very depressing picture of life in some villages. He says residents in one rice-growing commune on the Thai border are spending nearly half of their disposal income just on trucked-in water and medical bills.

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Cambodia’s Big Role To Play In The South China Sea Conflict

A column I wrote for Khmer 440...

The last time a Chinese Head of State visited Cambodia was 12 years ago, so the timing of President Hu Jintao’s visit just four days before Cambodia chairs a major regional summit may be a coincidence.

But no doubt his arrival in Phnom Penh today will be viewed by some members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as an example of China’s growing assertiveness in a region that it’s long had one foot in.

The economic bloc – made up of Cambodia, Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – will discuss a range of issues like climate change, disaster management, workers’ rights, agriculture, tourism, human trafficking, as well as plans for a drug-free zone to be set up across SE Asia within the next three years.

But the elephant in the room – the decades old dispute over who owns the South China Sea, or East Sea if you live in Vietnam – is unlikely to get much table time, with Cambodia already saying the issue will be off the agenda, and Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand also reluctant to get involved.

China’s claim – as can be seen in the highlighted area of the top picture – is by far the largest, covering most of the sea’s 1.7 million sq km, including the potentially oil and gas rich Spratly and Paracel archipelagos.

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When Will Angkor Wat Be Sold To China?

A column I wrote for Khmer 440...

I was quite surprised by the fuss this week over the announcement that a full-scale replica of the world-famous temple of Angkor Wat is to built thousands of miles away on the banks of the Ganges in India.

The trust behind the $18m project says the new temple, some 25 miles outside the Bihar state capital of Patna, in east India, will take 10 years to build, be even bigger than the original, and standing at 222ft will result in the world’s tallest Hindu temple.

Cambodian officials – clearly worried it might divert confused holidaymakers from the country’s big money-spinner near Siem Reap – came out in force to slam the venture. They branded it a “fake” and said it was an outrage that the temple would be even bigger than the real thing.

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My new book on training to be a chef, including stints at Rick Stein's and the Fat Duck, is available as a paperback and eBook on Amazon CLICK HERE

"Reading this book is a serious test for any food writer. Not only has Alex Watts done what all of us say we would like to do, tested his mettle in a professional kitchen, he also writes about his experiences so well that you spend as much time being jealous of his writing skills as you do of his experiences. It's an annoyingly enjoyable read." - Simon Majumdar

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Fugitive Foodie Undone By Pork Stew

If you ever wanted to illustrate the benefits of learning how to knock out the odd easy dish, then look no further than the unlikely tale of Chang Wen-tzung.

The food-loving fugitive managed to evade cops for 15 years until his craving for stewed pork rice got the better of him, says the Central News Agency.

The 56-year-old fled a drugs conviction in Taiwan for illegally consuming codeine (claiming it had come from, you know, when he’d accidentally downed some cough medicine), but the years he spent on the run in China, apparently made his hankering for lu rou fan all the more severe.

Rather than learn how to boil down some pork belly chunks, soy sauce, garlic, shitake mushrooms and a handful of hard-boiled eggs - a dish that even Ainsley Harriott could probably have a stab at - he eventually decided he could take no more, and flew back to the island for a slap-up feast, but was arrested at Taichung airport.

When Chang told police that his craving had brought him back to the island, an officer went to a night market to buy him a bowl of stewed pork rice. The price? Three years and 50 days in prison. But then I suppose other people's cooking always tastes better...or is that just me?

This stewed pork recipe’s for all the gastronomes still on the run...and comes courtesy of the excellent blog Gaga In The Kitchen.