Managers at a North Island KFC are accused of repeatedly selling expired chicken to customers, despite pleas from team members to throw it out.

A worker at Whanganui KFC claims she was yelled at and bullied by managers after warning them about expired food on four separate occasions in the past four months.

Her story was corroborated by another worker, who said she was sworn at for reporting expired chicken.

The first breach, in November 2019, was reported by the worker to an area manager, who told her to take photos if it happened again.

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The worker used her phone to photograph three further breaches, on November 28, 2019, January 28 and February 13, 2020.

One of the photos given to Stuff shows cooked chicken in a warmer, one hour and 29 minutes past its tagged expiry time.

DAVID WHITE/STUFF KFC managers left cooked chicken in a warmer for an hour and 29 minutes past its expiry time (file photo).

New Zealand Poultry Association chief executive Michael Brooks said cooked chicken kept at a high enough temperature past its expiry time would not become unsafe to eat.

However, if kept in the warmer, loss of moisture and fat could make it inedible after a time.

It was "not good practice" but not dangerous, Brooks said.

However, documents sighted by Stuff show one of the managers involved in the Whanganui breach was reported a year earlier, for refusing to discard raw chicken "hot rods", a chicken skewer product, that were past their expiry date.

The worker who made the complaint said they noticed "an awful smell" coming from the skewers, but was told the managers "do this stuff all the time".

The manager named in the complaint was later promoted.

When contacted, Restaurant Brands said it had investigated the raw chicken complaint and found it could not be substantiated.

"We believe it was a malicious complaint," a spokesperson said.

Unite Union rebuffed that claim, saying it repeatedly followed up with Restaurant Brands throughout October and November 2018 asking for details of any investigation, and was given none.

"As far as we are aware it was never investigated at all, so it comes as a total surprise that [Restaurant Brands] would now claim that it was a 'malicious' complaint that could not be substantiated, particularly when photographic evidence was provided at the time." a Union spokesperson said.

In the cooked chicken case, the Whanganui worker, who Stuff has agreed not to name, has laid a formal complaint with KFC parent company Restaurant Brands.

She said store managers shouted at her each time she asked about the expired food and repeatedly threatened the store would have to close if she continued "causing trouble."

DAVID WHITE/STUFF Restaurant Brands is the parent company of KFC and Pizza Hut and employs 4000 people.

The worker first complained to Restaurant Brands' head office about the breach on November 21. When she heard nothing, fast food workers' union leaders followed up on her behalf on December 4. There was no response from the company.

On January 28, the worker again photographed an expired tray of chicken and said a manager began yelling that she was "throwing us under the bus".

Three days later, a Restaurant Brands HR manager emailed the union to say it would investigate.

In an email dated February 3 and seen by Stuff, Restaurant Brands human resources consultant Anna Goodhue confirmed "discussions" had been held with Wanganui KFC management about food safety after the first alleged breach in November.

Goodhue then promised to investigate the documented January breach.

Restaurant Brands declined to answer specific questions about food safety at Whanganui KFC. In a statement, it said it had "stringent processes and procedures" in place to ensure the quality of the chicken served.

"All KFC staff, across all our stores, are trained in food safety, ensuring that high standards are maintained," the statement said.

It said it had "recently" heard about an "isolated" incident at the Whanganui store and was holding an internal investigation.

"As the investigation is currently in progress, we are unable to share any additional information at this time."

Unite Union national secretary Gerard Hehir​ said Restaurant Brands often sacked workers who breached rules, but appeared to have different rules for management.

JOHN NICHOLSON/STUFF Unite Union's national secretary Gerard Hehir.

The union was aware of "at last half a dozen" workers who had been dismissed for incorrectly testing and recording the temperature of cooked chicken, or for allowing salad ingredients to pass expiry; so to allow managers to overlook breaches without penalty was inconsistent.

"It's either serious or it's not."

Restaurant Brands has been under scrutiny since December 2019 over claims it has failed to properly investigate a growing number of sexual harassment cases, including a rape that culminated in a Pizza Hut worker being jailed for nine years and six months.

Hehir said there were parallels in the way the company treated workers in both the harassment and food safety cases.

"When they have a problem with an employee, they deal with it immediately. When an employee has a problem with them, it takes months," Hehir said.