Salads put KFC in firing line

The KFC Balmoral outlet on Auckland's Dominion Rd is facing 21 charges alleging that its bean salads were underweight.

The charges against parent company Restaurant Brands were laid under the Weights and Measures Act by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in the Auckland District Court yesterday.

They relate to the containers being for sale on or about April 11.

The 425g containers with use-by dates of April 17 or 18 were allegedly underweight by between 13g and 113g.

No pleas were entered and the case was adjourned until next month.

A Restaurant Brands spokesman said yesterday that KFC had not sold bean salad for three or four months because the product was uneconomical.

In October 1997, KFC was ordered to pay $23,735 in fines and costs after it pleaded guilty in the Wellington District Court to 23 charges of having containers for sale that contained less than their labelled weight.

The containers of potato and gravy, coleslaw and bean salad were at KFC outlets between Whangarei and Christchurch.

At the time the company said that in future customers could expect KFC to err on the side of over-filling.