An explosive food safety scandal currently taking place in Shanghai could be a blow to both McDonald’s and Yum! Brands as the two companies push for expansion in China.

According to a report published Sunday by Forbes, McDonald’s and Yum! -the Fortune 500 company that operates Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC and WingStreet – have been pulled into a scandal questioning the safety of processed meat. The issue erupted thanks to the Shanghai Husi Food Company, a local meat market where the Chinese divisions of McDonald’s and Yum! likely get a fair percentage of their food products.

An undercover reporter found workers at the Husi market repackaging unsold, expired and spoiled meat and then selling it to customers and clients. As a result, unsafe meat could have potentially made its way into the menu items at fast food restaurants around Shanghai.

The allegations have caused both McDonald’s and the four Yum! brands to completely cut off purchasing from Husi. The companies are also reportedly running independent investigations into the case, even as Chinese authorities do the same.

Of course, the scandal will cause the biggest blow to the reputation of the Shanghai Husi Food Co., which is in turn owned by the OSI Group, an Illinois-based food company. Still, while Husi and OSI bear the brunt of the incident, both McDonald’s and Yum! could catch heat from Chinese consumers and government officials alike for not verifying the safety of the meat they purchase.

In 2012, both companies came under fire for using chicken contaminated with unauthorized growth hormones and other antibiotic drugs. After that scandal, McDonald’s and Yum! pledged to be more vigilant about protecting food safety in China, where no real equivalent to the FDA exists. If the two companies failed to realize that they were buying and serving spoiled meat, their promises from 2012 will ring hollow.