McDonald's Korea's Expired Burger And Tortilla Bread: Criticized By Opposition, Calls For Boycott

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

JAKARTA - The South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced that it would carry out security checks on McDonald's Korea outlets. Although the ministry called it a regular inspection carried out twice a year, this came after a commotion over the use of expired burgers and tortillas.

"The fact is that McDonald's Korea does not use expired food ingredients. The expiration dates used by American fast food chains have been shortened in Korea, to provide a fresher quality of burgers," the ministry official said, citing the Korea Times Wednesday, Aug. 11.

In an official apology issued by McDonald's Korea on Aug. 6, the fast-food chain said it uses a stricter expiration date system, which is shorter than usual.

However, small progressive opposition parties such as the Justice Party and the Basic Income Party say this is just an excuse and McDonald's Korea is playing with words.

"The general expiration date that McDonald's Korea refers to is the one used for frozen food. McDonald's Korea is lying," said a special committee of officers set up by the Justice Party and local community groups.

McDonald's illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Leoparmr)

Meanwhile, the action committee took a further step and urged local customers to boycott the fast food restaurant chain.

"We declare a nationwide boycott movement against McDonald's Korea, which has threatened public health by manipulating expiration date stickers on its food ingredients, blaming part-time workers for the incident," the organizers said during a press conference held in Jongno, Seoul, last Monday.

Separately, South Korean MP Yong Hye-in of the Basic Income Party at a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul on Tuesday, August 10, urged the food ministry and experts from external investigative bodies to investigate the case.

"McDonald's Korea has not learned from previous cases of 'hamburger disease'. It is trying to avoid responsibility and repeat the same mistakes made before," Yong criticized.

"McDonald's restaurants caught using stickers with outdated expiration date stickers have been doing this for more than a year. There is more evidence showing other McDonald's restaurants have used expired bread as well," he explained.

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

Previously, a McDonald's employee reported to the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission on August 3 that he and his colleagues had used expired hamburgers and tortillas in the food served to customers. Workers put a new expiration date sticker on top of the old one. He claims that this practice has been going on since last year.

McDonald's Korea immediately imposed harsh penalties, suspending part-time workers for three months. The restaurant manager was also suspended two days later, but Yong said the part-timer was innocent.

The action committee added that they would continue to boycott the fast food chain until they lift the suspension placed on part-time workers.

McDonald's Korea, which is conducting an independent internal investigation, said there were no health problems for customers who ate the reported expired bread at the restaurant. And, consumers can also check the expiration date of dishes for them.

It is not known how many people have eaten at the restaurant over the past year. However, the Corruption Eradication & Civil Rights Commission has started an investigation into the case with results to come.