Chicken sold to KFC's parent Yum! Brands Inc in China contained excessive levels of chemicals, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday, escalating a month-long food scare that has hit the company's sales in its biggest market.

The Shanghai Municipal Food Safety Committee said KFC's checks on its suppliers were lax and that it found excessive levels of chemical residue in some of the fast food chain's supplies, the report said.

Yum! announced to investors earlier this month that it expected its China division's fourth-quarter same-store sales to fall 6 percent, a deeper fall than its previous estimate of a 4 percent decline, after negative publicity on KFC's chicken supplies caused would-be customers to steer clear of the fast-food chain.

Wujin-Shajia: I'm wondering why the government only oversees foreign companies while keeping its eyes off Chinese food companies. If large companies such as KFC have safety problems, can we trust the lower-end Chinese restaurants?

Xiputian: The suppliers should accept the biggest responsibility. The regulator is next in line to be blamed.

Tuanshuotuanhua: It seems that grandpa's food (KFC) is not safe to eat. What about McDonald's?

Leo: I'm worried. A few hundred meters away from our primary school there is a KFC store. Students flock there after lessons. Even their parents take them to the store to eat. It seems that the parents should be educated.

All information is from Sina Weibo

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