Ten employees of American food supplier OSI Group have been sentenced to imprisonment and fined up to 2.4 million renminbi (US$364,875) by a Chinese court for reusing returned food products to avoid losses.

The ruling marks the end of a long-running investigation linking OSI to a food safety scandal which occured two years ago, where the reputations of fast food giants McDonald's and KFC were damaged.

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In mid-2014, a Chinese news channel discovered that Shanghai Husi Food Co., Ltd. was selling repacked old meat with doctored production and expiration dates. The company, which is owned by OSI Group, allegedly sold meat that was up to a year past its expiration date.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Yum Brands, owner of KFC and Pizza Hut, promised to cut its ties with OSI. However, McDonald's opted to stick with OSI, which has been its meat supplier since the 1950s. Other than the two giants, the meat scandal also affected other American food chains such as Burger King, Papa John's and Starbucks.

In a statement on Monday, the Shanghai Jiading People's Court stated that OSI China general manager Yang Liqun would be jailed for three years and deported. However, it is unclear whether Mr. Yang will serve his sentence in China or Australia. The nine others implicated in the case face shorter jail time and pay smaller fines.

Meanwhile, OSI has said that the ruling is unjust and that it will make an appeal, claiming that "a disgruntled former employee and two journalists staged the [TV news] report."

Following the scandal, sales of McDonalds and Yum have suffered, while OSI China has lost almost a billion dollars in revenue.

TagsOSI Group, OSI China, China meat scandal, Mcdonalds, Yum! Brands, KFC, pizza hut