KFC has temporarily closed all its stores in Mongolia following a food poisoning outbreak. Credit: Amin.

KFC’s stores in Mongolia have been reportedly ordered to suspend operations temporarily following a food poisoning outbreak at the Zaisan location in Ulaanbaatar.

Last week, 42 people were hospitalised and 247 people complained of symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting, reported Reuters.

Metropolitan Professional Inspection Agency of Ulaanbaatar was cited as saying that the incident had been caused by contaminated water supply at the outlet.

Inquiries and checks are currently ongoing at the Zaisan location while all other KFC restaurants are open.

An official was quoted by Reuters as saying: “We will carry out inspections for the other KFC branches from 18-21 February and suspend their operations when we do the inspections.”

KFC entered Mongolia with the opening of its first location in 2013 and now has 11 locations.

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“We will carry out inspections for the other KFC branches and suspend their operations when we do the inspections.”

The chain is currently operated by the company’s Mongolian franchise partner Tavan Bogd Group.

KFC Global spokeswoman was also quoted as saying: “We deeply regret the negative impact that many people have suffered, especially to our guests of the Zaisan restaurant, and we are working to support our team members and customers during this difficult time.

“KFC Mongolia is cooperating fully with the government’s investigation and recommendations around addressing the source of the incident.

“This includes a thorough investigation of all KFC Mongolia restaurants, and specifically into determining the exact cause of the reported incident.”

In a statement, Tavan Bogd apologised, claiming that weak internal quality checks and failure to implement daily standards and rules had caused the incident.