BEIJING: Chinese authorities have charged  ten people over “selling inferior products” in the wake of a food scandal  that erupted last year at a unit of United States food supplier OSI Group, which  saw expired meat sold to global fast food chains.

A Chinese court  charged the defendants connected to OSI food-processing companies in  Shanghai and Hebei Province “on suspicions of producing, selling  inferior products”, according to a statement published by the Shanghai  People’s Procuratorate on Wednesday.

The charges come more than a year  after authorities arrested six officials from Shanghai Husi Food Co, a  subsidiary of OSI, that operated a factory shut down by the officials in  Shanghai for mixing out-of-date meat with fresh product. In the  scandal’s aftermath, the United States food supplier laid off more than 300 workers  at the Shanghai plant.

OSI’s clients in China originally included  McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, coffee chain Starbucks, Burger King,  seven-Eleven convenience stores and Papa John’s Pizza.

The controversy came  to light after an investigative report by a Shanghai television station  aired last year showing workers on the production line scooping meat off  the floor and putting it back into processing machinery.