KFC to probe complaint on food quality in Kerala

Fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) will be probing into the allegations of serving worm-infested chicken in one of its outlet in Thiruvananthapuram. Food safety authorities have temporarily shut the outlet after receiving a complaint from the customer. “In reference to the incident at our restaurant at Thiruvananthapuram, we are thoroughly investigating the authenticity of the claim in cooperation with local authorities as we take all claims about our food very seriously,” the KFC spokesperson said is a statement.
The incident occurred two days back when a customer found worms in the fried chicken served to him. The customer complained to the food safety authority. After conducting an inspection of the food and the outlet, the authorities ordered temporary shut down of the store. They also collected food samples from other outlets of KFC in the state.

“All KFC chicken is sourced from the state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, which comply to the most stringent food safety standards…Therefore the likelihood of presence of a foreign substance is improbable,” the spokesperson said.
“As a responsible brand, we are confident of our product and will continue to serve the highest quality products to all our customers across each of our restaurants. We are very proud of our quality and welcome consumers to take a tour of the KFC kitchen any time any day” he added.
KFC has 184 outlets in India and four in Kerala.
According to Arvind Singhal, chairnman of Technopak Advisors, the issue can potentially damage the brand significantly and the company has come out with proactive steps to reassure the customers.
“We have only seen some media reports about the incident and denial from the company. But the company has to communicate with the consumers and reassure them about the quality. In the past some similar instances had caused considerable damage to other brands in India,” he said.
One such instance was when worm-infested Cadbury’s chocolates were sold in 2003. In 2006, the cola companies too suffered due to the reports of pesticide content by environmental agencies.
“In Cadbury’s case, they had to recall a good portion of their products. They then went into long-term initiatives like putting in place better cold chain and supply chain and improving the packaging,” he said.

Source:http://wrd.mydigitalfc.com