Chapter 83

Chapter 31: Reactions from All Sides

Although Director Zhao was filled with a thousand worries, he had to go through with his visit to McDonald's.

Under the heavy and unsteady steps of Director Zhao, the crowd following him behind walked with light and nimble steps, closely trailing after him. Today, they had a feast for their eyes. KFC's advertisements were so popular, but it turned out that their frying oil contained carcinogens.

Since KFC's frying oil contained carcinogens, did McDonald's frying oil also contain them? — This was the question on everyone's mind in the crowd.

The owner of the Chushi McDonald's franchise, Mr. Wang, like KFC's Mr. Ma, saw Director Zhao leading the crowd in with a green face. Initially, he also refused to let Director Zhao inspect, but could not withstand the crowd's urging and finally had to let Director Zhao conduct the inspection.

However, the result was the same as KFC's: the frying oil also contained the carcinogen "arsenic," which caused another uproar among the onlookers. They murmured that foreign fast-food restaurants contained carcinogens, while local fast-food restaurants had not been found to contain any carcinogens, which was a great irony.

Director Zhao returned to the bureau with an awkward expression to report to the city leaders. According to national regulations, the detection of carcinogens in the frying oil would result in fines ranging from 60,000 to 300,000 yuan, and the restaurants would be ordered to rectify the issue. If they failed to meet the standards after re-inspection, they would be ordered to close for rectification. However, McDonald's and KFC were both Fortune 500 companies with nearly a thousand chain stores in China, and how to handle the situation was not something a small city health director could decide.

Moreover, whether the detection of carcinogens in the frying oil was directly related to the use of oil filters by the two fast-food restaurants was something Director Zhao could not judge or decide.

In response to the news brought back by Director Zhao, the Chushi city leadership immediately convened an emergency meeting to discuss how to handle the "frying oil scandal." Although the incident only involved two fast-food restaurants and over 50 employees, with no cases of poisoning, it was not a major collective incident. However, the names of these two fast-food restaurants caused a headache for all the city leaders: "McDonald's" and "KFC," Fortune 500 companies with thousands of chain stores in China and tens of thousands of employees...

This series of numbers caused the city leaders great distress.

To penalize or not to penalize? How to penalize? Was this an isolated incident or a widespread issue? Did all McDonald's and KFC stores in China have carcinogens in their frying oil? Was it caused by the use of oil filters?

...

The more the leaders thought about it, the more they felt the pressure, especially in an era where economic development was the top priority. At this time, such an incident in a small city would definitely not be favorable for the national policy of attracting foreign investment. If this incident scared off foreign investors, they would all be in trouble.

After much discussion, the Chushi city leadership unanimously decided to report the matter to the provincial leaders and let them decide how to proceed. They would follow whatever the leaders decided.

"Report to the leaders, should... should we inform the public to reduce their consumption of McDonald's and KFC in the near future?" Director Zhao, being the health director, knew the severity of the carcinogens and their potential long-term impact on human health, even if there were no immediate health issues.

However, as soon as Director Zhao spoke, he received angry glares from all the leaders present. Recently, everyone had been in a good mood, despite the "tax scandal," which overall had more benefits than drawbacks for Chushi. But this "frying oil scandal" was definitely a disaster.

Seeing the angry expressions of the leaders, Director Zhao realized he had caused a stir. — But did I want to? I'm just a small figure following the leaders' orders — Director Zhao, feeling like a wronged housewife, hung his head and dared not look at the leaders.

"Cough!" Mayor Yu Haowei cleared his throat. Director Zhao had raised a significant issue concerning public welfare, which could not be ignored, but at this critical juncture, even Mayor Yu Haowei, who always prioritized the people's interests, had to compromise.

Stability is paramount, and in a harmonious society, everything must be based on stability.

"Temporarily do not report this incident. By the way, Minister Li, as the head of the city's propaganda department, you must ensure that all media in Chushi refrain from reporting this until the higher authorities make a decision." Mayor Yu Haowei could only temporarily implement a gag order.

"Yes, Mayor Yu." Minister Li nodded repeatedly.

But it was already the 21st century, and the internet era. Could a gag order really hold?

"Alright, the meeting is adjourned. During this period, all department heads must ensure their phones are on 24/7 and be ready to respond at any time." Mayor Yu Haowei announced the end of the meeting with a headache.

"Mayor Yu... Vice Mayor Hu..." Director Zhao saw that no one was paying attention to him, and his old face crumpled, almost on the verge of tears. This meant his political career was about to come to an end.

I am really wronged! — Director Zhao cried out to the sky.

While the Chushi city leaders were holding an emergency meeting, the owners of the Chushi KFC and McDonald's franchises, Mr. Ma and Mr. Wang, upon learning that their stores contained the carcinogen "arsenic," were shocked and quickly reported the matter to the KFC and McDonald's headquarters in China. For the CEOs of the two fast-food companies, this was the first time they had encountered such an issue, with no precedent.

In the end, the CEOs of the two Chinese companies had no choice but to report the matter to the American headquarters for a decision. Upon learning of the incident, the CEOs immediately canceled their vacations and returned to the company.

The Chinese market was the top priority in McDonald's and KFC's global strategy. While some franchises in other parts of the world were experiencing slight losses, the Chinese market remained robust, with a steady stream of franchise applications. McDonald's had set the franchise fee at around 25 million yuan, but this did not deter the enthusiasm of those wanting to join the franchise.

If the news of carcinogens in the frying oil were to break now, it would be a fatal blow to their reputation. Immediately, the CEOs of the two companies held a secret video conference, the content of which was known only to the two CEOs.

Three hours later, the two companies hired a third-party testing agency to secretly inspect the two Chushi fast-food restaurants and randomly sample other franchises in China to determine whether this was an isolated incident or a widespread issue.

Of course, for the Lin Feng Qidian Fast Food, the original source of the "frying oil scandal," the two company CEOs also instructed the third-party testing agency to secretly inspect it. They absolutely did not believe that a fast-food chain with only five branches could have no issues with its frying oil.

Especially the "acrylamide" (proven carcinogenic in animal tests) in the frying oil, which was unavoidable in the food industry unless the oil was changed every six hours according to food regulations. However, this cost was not something any food industry could bear.