A new food scare is driving away customers at Yum (YUM.NYSE) and McDonald’s (MCD.NYSE) diners in China, Reuters reported. Yum said on Wednesday that the scare, triggered by a TV report earlier this month showing improper meat handling by a supplier, Shanghai Husi Food, caused “significant, negative” damage to sales at KFC and Pizza Hut resturants over the past 10 days. “If the significant sales impact is sustained, it will have a material effect on full-year earnings per share,” Yum said in a regulatory filing. Officials from McDonald’s in China and Hong Kong have not responded to requests for information on the impact on sales from the scandal, a McDonald’s Japan executive said sales had dropped 15-20% on a daily basis due to the scare.
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