Problems Faced by KFC Essay Example

In New Zealand, KFC youth workers earn NZ$10. 13 an hour. Staff at the Balmoral, Auckland store went on strike for two hours on December 3, 2005 after Restaurant Brands, the franchise holder, offered no wage increase in contract negotiations. In March 2006, Restaurant Brands agreed to phase out youth rates in New Zealand, although no date was set. Many stores in western Canada are unionized with the Canadian Auto Workers, and as a result many non-franchise stores in western Canada pay higher than minimum wage.

Animal rights Protesters demonstrating outside a KFC restaurant in Royal Oak, Michigan Since 2003, animal rights and welfare organizations, led by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), have been protesting KFC’s treatment of the animals used for its products. These groups claim that the recommendations of the KFC Animal Welfare Advisory Council have been ignored. Adele Douglass, a former member of the council, said in an SEC filing reported on by the Chicago Times, that KFC "never had any meetings.

They never asked any advice, and then they touted to the press that they had this animal-welfare advisory committee. I felt like I was being used. " KFC responded by saying the chickens used in its products are bought from suppliers like Perdue Farms, Tyson Foods, and Pilgrim's Pride, and that these suppliers are routinely monitored for animal welfare violations. Several PETA undercover investigations and videos of these and other KFC suppliers purporting to show chickens being beaten, ripped apart, and thrown against walls contradict KFC’s claims.

PETA has criticised some of the practices of chicken breeders, such as beak trimming and overcrowding, but KFC says its suppliers meets UK

legal requirements. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recommends a maximum stocking density of 34 kg—around 30 chickens—per square metre, and say that in circumstances where beak trimming needs to be carried out to prevent the birds injuring each other, only one third of the beak should be trimmed "measured from the tip towards the entrance of the nostrils". PETA states that they have held more than 12,000 demonstrations at KFC outlets since 2003 because of this alleged mistreatment of chickens by KFC suppliers.

In June 2008, KFC Canada agreed to PETA's demands for better welfare standards, including favoring suppliers who use controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK) of chickens, and other welfare standards as well as introducing a vegan sandwich at 65% of its outlets. PETA has called off its campaign against KFC Canada, but continues to demonstrate against KFC elsewhere in the world. Hygiene In February 2007, a KFC/Taco Bell outlet in New York City was found to be rat infested.

A video showing the rats running wild inside the restaurant was shown on television news bulletins around the world, as well as disseminated on the internet via sites such as YouTube.  Two KFC outlets in Sydney, Australia, were fined record amounts in 2009 for having unhygienic food preparation areas. Inspectors found layers of grease and dirt, as well as evidence of vermin. The KFC stores had been repeat offenders, and had ignored previous warnings to keep their restaurants clean.

They were charged with 11 breaches of food hygiene laws. In 2009, a KFC outlet in Leicester Square, London was charged with 13 food hygiene charges by officials from Westminster Council, claiming a mouse was seen running

across the floor and flies buzzed around their heads at the premises. A court case in August 2010 revealed poor hygiene at a KFC outlet in the suburb of Villawood in Sydney, Australia. KFC staff admitted to the court that they would drop cooked chicken pieces on the floor, and indulge in food fights using french fries and chicken pieces.

The court was told that staff did not wash their hands between handling raw chicken blood, and serving cooked chicken pieces to customers. An 11-year-old girl launched legal action against the KFC outlet, claiming she caught salmonellosis after eating a Twister at the store, which she says left her with brain damage and quadriplegia. KFC denied the girl's illness was caused by its food. Nutritional value KFC formerly used partially hydrogenated oil in its fried foods.

This oil contains relatively high levels of trans fat, which increases the risk of heart disease. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) filed a court case against KFC, with the aim of making it use other types of oils or make sure customers know about trans fat content immediately before they buy food. In October 2006, KFC announced that it would begin frying its chicken in trans fat-free oil. This would also apply to their potato wedges and other fried foods, however, the biscuits, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes would still contain trans fat.

Trans fat-free soybean oil was introduced in all KFC restaurants in the U. S. by April 30, 2007. CSPI announced that it would immediately drop its lawsuit against KFC and was hopeful that this would create a ripple effect on other restaurants or fast

food chains that prepare food rich in trans fat. "If KFC, which deep-fries almost everything, can get the artificial trans fat out of its frying oil, anyone can," CSPI executive director Michael Jacobson said in a statement.