McDonald's Korea Apologizes For Using Expired Buns And Tortillas

Illustration of a McDonald's outlet in South Korea. (Wikimedia Commons/Leoparmr)

JAKARTA - Global fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's in South Korea admitted that one of its restaurants in Seoul had been using expired hamburger buns and tortillas starting last year.

South Korea's McDonald's apologized for the incident but the headquarters said they were not aware of the case and linked it to a part-time worker.

"Our employee confessed that he made the decision to use expired groceries. We have taken disciplinary action against the part-time worker as well as the restaurant manager, who left in July", an official said, citing the Korea Times, Wednesday, August 4.

Local reports said on Tuesday, a whistleblower reported to the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission that his colleagues had eaten expired hamburgers and tortillas in the food served to customers.

Illustration of a McDonald's menu. (Unsplash/Brett Jordan)

In a video submitted as evidence, McDonald's staff pasted a new expiration date sticker on top of the old one. A whistleblower submitted several videos and he claims this practice has been going on for almost a year since 2020.

A former worker at the outlet said his store manager ordered him and his colleagues to add new stickers. And they had no other choice but to follow orders. They are forced to change the expiration date every morning and evening before the restaurant opens and closes.

"We're not the only restaurant that does this as far as I'm concerned. Each restaurant bears their own loss stemming from food waste, and managers are responsible for this. I guess they made the decision to re-label because they felt like they must reduce losses", said one reporter as quoted in his report document.

South Korea's McDonald's said it would take more thorough steps to protect the quality of the food it serves.

"We carried out an internal investigation and there was a re-labeling of a food ingredient in one of the restaurants. We are taking strict action on this matter, in accordance with internal regulations", McDonald's Korea said in a statement released on August 4.

Illustration of a McDonald's menu. (Unsplash/Erik Mclean)

This is not the first time that South Korea's McDonald's has been reported for food safety concerns. In 2019, nine civic groups filed complaints through prosecution, because McDonald's Korea served bread that was not cooked properly, which could cause health problems for customers. Prosecutors rejected the claim citing a lack of evidence.

To ease public anxiety, the fast-food chain held an open kitchen event at one of its restaurants, showing customers the process of preparing its food.

At the time, McDonald's Korea was promoting its new food safety system, which included placing an expiration date sticker on packaging materials to ensure staff did not use expired bread, vegetables, or meat.

It is not yet known how many customers have eaten expired food over the past year. Meanwhile, government agencies have started their investigations.

To note, the company said it would create new measures to allow customers to check the expiration date for their bread or tortillas.