Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has 11 branches in Denmark, and food inspectors conducting inspections have found that all branches in the country are unhygienic, according to a report by the Danish news organization DR, writes cedirates.com, citing ghanabusinessnews.com.
Employees of the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration visited KFC restaurants across the country on June 2, 2025 for inspections, but did not give a positive rating to any of them.
The administration has an emoticon system for assessing the standards and quality of food services and products - – "Happy". "Irritated" and "Unhappy". When a restaurant is given the "Happy" emoji, it means that inspectors found no issues.
"Irritated" means that they found some issues and the restaurant will be asked to pay daily fines until the issue or issues are resolved.
"Unhappy" however, means that inspectors have found serious issues at the restaurant and the company is being fined immediately, reported to the police, or the location is being closed until the issues are resolved before being allowed to reopen.
If inspectors find food that is unfit for human consumption, employees order it destroyed.
None of the 11 KFC branches in the country have received a single "Happy" emoticon. Four received the “Unhappy“ and seven received the “Irritated“.
According to the report, authorities found chicken stored in warm refrigerators, meat that was not properly labeled, and some of it was moldy.
KFC has restaurants in the Danish cities of Rødovre, Greve, Tilst, Horsens, Vejle, Herning, two in Odense and three in the capital Copenhagen.
During a follow-up visit on June 3, officials found that the Copenhagen restaurant had improved and received the “Happy“ emoticon. The report for the Odense branch, however, was not good, with inspectors finding, among other things, mold-like growths on food, dust buildup and spider webs.
The inspectors also found that the chicken storage cabinets did not appear to have been cleaned of product residue on surfaces and storage trays.
KFC admitted that conditions were “not good” and that cleaning would be improved in the future.
At the Amager restaurant, inspectors measured the temperature of chicken in bags next to the dishwashing area. The report said three half-full bags of chicken breast, chicken wing and chicken fillet were found, measuring temperatures of 13.1 degrees, 13.7 degrees and 14.9 degrees respectively. The inspectors' report also states that the measured temperature in the room was 24.2 degrees.
KFC has notified employees that the meat will be thrown away immediately.