Asia Bizz: On March 18, 2012, retail giant Carrefour shut down its store temporarily in Central China’s Henan province. The store was shut for three days following reports that it changed the expiry date on chicken products that had passed the date and sold regular chicken at a more expensive rate.
The public relations manager of the far-west region of Carrefour in China, Wang Shagwei, while talking to reporters of the China Daily, said that the store in the Huayuan Road of Zhengzhou capital of Henan was closed as per the orders issued by the local industrial and commercial bureau on Sunday.
On March 15, 2012 media reports claimed that the store was found repackaging normal chicken as free range chicken at twice the price and ignored its own sales codes to sell expired meat. The items that were sold included chicken gizzards and mutton rolls.
An investigation will be conducted by industrial and commercial authorities and the store will also be cooperating in the investigation. Wang said that the other Carrefour stores will double check their operations to avoid similar doings. The public relations manager also said that it is unclear when the store will be reopening.
An official from the local industrial and commercial bureau said that the cheating of customers with fraudulent prices and expired food are serious violations of the Law on the Protection of Consumer’s Rights and Interests.
