When I first heard about Walmart's recall of "Five Spice" donkey meat in China, I thought that it could spell trouble for the company in that country. It didn't immediately occur to me, however, that it might have any effect outside Chinese borders. That changed when one of the resident consumers in our household asked if I had heard that Walmart was selling donkey meat ("Who would eat that?") and that it contained fox meat instead ("That's disgusting!").
After explaining that different cultures view various animals differently than we do as a food source, I further explained the steps that Walmart was taking to address the situation. The retailer, having seen what a food safety scandal did to KFC in China, took quick action to recall the tainted product and promptly announced it would begin DNA testing of all meat it sells in China from local suppliers. The chain said it is considering legal action against the supplier of the tainted meat, Dezhou Fujude Food Company Ltd.
When I asked how our shopper had heard about the story, I got the typical answer: "Twitter."
Had the story affected our shopper's view of Walmart? "No, but I don't like to shop there anyway."