HONG KONG has suspended all imports from the US-owned Chinese food supplier Shanghai Husi Food at the centre of the latest food scare, Reuters reports.

Shanghai police have detained five people, including the head and the quality chief of Shanghai Husi Food, a supplier to KFC, McDonalds and Starbucks over out-of-date meat charges.

Shanghai Husi Food is owned by Illinois-based OSI Group.

Yum Brands, owner of KFC and Pizza Hut, cut ties with OSI, and McDonalds said it would move supply from the Shanghai facility to OSI's new plant in the eastern central province of Henan.

The Shanghai Food and Drug Administration said it visited 581 food-related facilities suspected of using expired meat from Shanghai Husi Food, and sent 875 personnel to carry out inspections.

McDonalds and Japanese convenience store FamilyMart said they had taken some products off their shelves in Japan, which had been supplied by Shanghai Husi.