Outlets of American fast food giant KFC could be suspended in Mongolia pending inquiries after 247 people reported symptoms of poisoning, such as diarrhea and vomiting after visiting one of its restaurants.
The incident happened at one of the fast food chain’s outlets in Ulaanbaatar last week because of the contaminated water supply, according to the city's Metropolitan Professional Inspection Agency.
“We will carry out inspections for the other KFC branches from February 18-21 and suspend their operations when we do the inspections,” the official said, as quoted by Reuters.
The agency had previously warned that it had called for the closure of all local KFC restaurants. Owned by Kentucky-based Yum! Brands, KFC has 11 outlets in Mongolia, all of them located in the capital, the company’s website says.
All the outlets, apart from the one where the incident occurred, are currently open for business, according to general manager of KFC Mongolia, Ganbat Danzanbaatar.
The company’s restaurants in Mongolia are operated by local conglomerate Tavan Bogd Group via a franchise cooperation. The company apologized for the incident, saying it had happened due to weak internal quality checks and poor implementation of daily standards and rules.
KFC Global said that its local branch in Mongolia was closely cooperating with the government's investigation and submitted all the recommendations in addressing the incident.
“We deeply regret the negative impact that many people have suffered, especially to our guests of the Zaisan restaurant, and we are working to support our team members and customers during this difficult time,” a KFC Global spokesperson told Reuters.
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