Mongolia suspends KFC offices for investigation after reports of food poisoning

ULAANBAATAR (Reuters) – A Mongolian regulator has announced that it will temporarily suspend its activities in KFC restaurants in order to conduct an investigation, 42 people having been hospitalized and hundreds with symptoms of food poisoning after eating in one of the outlets of the fast food chain.

The incident occurred at the Zaisan outlet in Ulaanbaatar last week because of its contaminated water supply, the Metropolitan Professional Inspection Agency said, adding that 247 people had reported symptoms such as diarrhea and diarrhea. vomiting.

The Zaisan restaurant has already been closed for checks, an agency official told Reuters on Tuesday.

"We will conduct inspections for other branches of KFC from February 18 to 21 and we will suspend their operations when we conduct these inspections," added the official. The regulator had previously announced that it had suspended all local KFC outlets.

KFC, part of Yum Brands Inc., has at least 11 restaurants in the country, according to its website.

Ganbat Danzanbaatar, general manager of KFC Mongolia, said all KFC restaurants were open, with the exception of Zaisan store.

KFC opened its first restaurant in Mongolia in 2013 and all its restaurants are in the capital. They are operated by its franchise partner, the Mongolian conglomerate Tavan Bogd Group.

"We deeply regret the negative consequences for many people, especially our customers at Zaisan Restaurant, and we work to help our team members and customers during this difficult time," said a KFC Global spokeswoman. Reuters.

"KFC Mongolia is cooperating fully with the government's investigation and recommendations to remedy the source of this incident. This includes a thorough investigation of all KFC Mongolia restaurants, and in particular to determine the exact cause of the reported incident, "she said in an email.

Tavan Bogd apologized in a separate statement, explaining that the incident had occurred due to inadequate internal quality controls and that the daily norms and rules were poorly enforced.