McDonald’s supplier given record fine for polluting Beijing

Beijing Simplot Food Processing, which supplies fries to McDonald’s, whose other partners include US agribusiness giant the JR Simplot Company and the Beijing Agricultural, Industrial and Commerce General Company, was fined a record RMB3.9m (US$655,000).

In November, inspectors found levels of chemical oxygen released by Beijing Simplot had reached 563 mg per litre. The permitted level is 500 mg per litre. The polluted water flowed into urban pipe networks, according to the Fengtai District Environmental Protection Bureau

Officials blocked off the company’s sewage pipes and ordered managers to transport its waste water to a processing plant.

Beijing Simplot was upgrading its sewage treatment facilities at the time. Beijing's food watchdog decided on the fine this week after a hearing in March.

Established in 1992, Beijing Simplot’s focus is mostly on french fries and hash browns for McDonald's and other east Asian food service customers.