A McDonald’s customer in Japan found a piece of vinyl in his chicken nuggets on the day the fast food chain finally resumed sales of bigger portions of french fries following a supply problem.
The company said it had withdrawn McNuggets made on the same day at the same overseas plant after a customer found the vinyl in his order at an outlet in Misawa, northern Japan, at the weekend.
The discovery has added to McDonald’s troubles in Japan, where it has more than 3,000 outlets, coming soon after it was forced to restrict the sale of french fries because of industrial action at ports in the US, where it sources the product.
Last summer, officials closed down the firm’s poultry supplier in China, Shanghai Husi Food Co, following media allegations that it had deliberately mixed fresh chicken with expired produce. The meat was allegedly then shipped to McDonald’s Japan and Starbucks and Burger King outlets in China.
Concern over the safety of imported nuggets led to a sharp drop in sales for the remainder of last year, triggering a campaign to win back customers with discounts, giveaways and nuggets made from tofu.
Despite the sales drive, McDonald’s Japan is bracing itself for its first net loss in 11 years this fiscal year.
The offending nugget found this week came from the firm’s new supplier in Thailand, and has been sent to its headquarters in Tokyo for further analysis.
“We are starting to investigate how this could have happened,” a McDonald’s Japan spokeswoman said.
