KFC Braamfontein has officially closed its doors after shocking images of staff hosing down chicken pieces outside on the concrete floor went viral.
The KFC fast food outlet in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, had to be closed until further notice after the photos of staff washing the chicken pieces on a dirty floor went wild on the social media this week.
It started when a Facebook user posted photos of what appeared to be staff at the KFC Braamfontein removing chicken pieces from containers, laying them on a concrete floor, and then hosing them down with water.
As reported by Times Live , the user, Mfumo Bamuza, apparently received the images from an anonymous Johannesburg resident who took the photos from the balcony of his apartment in Clifton Heights in the Johannesburg suburb.
There were two images showing staff using a hose to spray water over the uncooked chicken. One of the images shows blood and water streaming across the concrete floor. The images posted by Bamuza can be seen in the tweet below.
Braamfontein KFC closed after Twitter chicken uproar. http://t.co/RsrlLCJ5Ly pic.twitter.com/VdRqh89GFC
— Sowetan LIVE (@SowetanLIVE) May 8, 2015
The Facebook post was apparently shared over 2,000 times, after which KFC South Africa caught on to the problem and sent their own tweet apologizing for the incident.
We’re aware of the incident in Braamfontein & take the preparation of our food seriously. We’re currently investigating this further. — KFC South Africa (@KFCSA) May 8, 2015
The company then said how shocked they were to see the images and that at first they couldn’t believe their eyes.
Like you, we were really shocked to see the pictures posted from KFC Braamfontein, and at first couldn’t believe what we were seeing.
— KFC South Africa (@KFCSA) May 8, 2015
After Doug Smart, managing director for KFC Africa, announced the store was closed, a sign was placed outside the branch saying, “Our store has been closed until further notice, thanks.”
And then the denials started. This was apparently merely chicken intended to be discarded and not for human consumption.
The store was closed while we investigated & we’re relieved to find out that this was discarded chicken, never intended to be sold. — KFC South Africa (@KFCSA) May 8, 2015
According to Smart, “We’ve confirmed that the product (pictured) was never going to be served. This store had developed the practice of collecting stock that is never going to be sold (but kept) in (the) freezer (and) had to be thawed.”
According to him, the chicken was washed and marked for disposal with a label saying, “On hold. Do not use.”
As reported by IOL , Smart did concede that their normal protocol had been breached .
“(The) bad thing is how they decided to take apart this block of frozen chicken – but it was never going to be sold.
“We have high standards.”
Meanwhile, people have been put off the idea of eating KFC’s fast food with thousands of people hitting the Twittersphere with comments.
We now know what #KFCBraam ‘s 11 Secret Herbs & Spices are! Engine oil, Gravel, Faeces, Lint, Dust, Tarmac, Glass, Sweat, E. Coli, & Water.
— Barry Tuck (@BarryTuck) May 8, 2015
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because that’s where the KFC employee put it. Why do u think it’s called Streetwise 2? #KFCBraam
— Chester Missing (@chestermissing) May 8, 2015
Some tweets were a little shocking and quite funny.
Side effects of #KFCBraam pic.twitter.com/kuYkkAeCMc
— RecycledStreetWear (@Excellentmajola) May 8, 2015
Meanwhile, one of KFC’s strongest competitors in South Africa, Nandos Chicken, posted its own message.
#KFCBraam pic.twitter.com/UqUm1A9v6u
— IG: RAYMOND_APPLES (@raymondapples) May 10, 2015
Having seen the images, would you go out and buy some KFC chicken today?
And then, of course, there was the story reported on the Inquisitr of the 76-year-old mother said to have been kicked out of a KFC store for breastfeeding her 42-year-old son. Of course, that one turned out to be a hoax.
[Image: KFC Chicken CC BY-SA 2.0 Marufish , insert from Facebook]