McNuggets off menu for Japanese

12 April 2012

JAPANESE fans of Western fast foods are having to give up regular helpings of McDonald's Chicken McNuggets because the burger chain is running out of chicken.

In the latest setback for the Japanese offshoot of the American group that launched its shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange last year, sales of US chicken were banned in Japan last month after an outbreak of bird flu in the US. Most American states are now clear of the virus but hens in Virginia, where McDonald's obtains its supplies, remain off limits, and dwindling stocks have forced the chain to take the popular dish off the menu.

This potential blow to the company's profit prospects follows a slump in burger sales after the discovery of cases of mad cow disease in Japan last year.

Although McDonald's assured customers that its beef was perfectly safe, and was sourced overseas, they returned to traditional noodles rather than take risks.

McDonald's is trying to find new supplies of chicken from China but that source may also be seen as tainted by customers after an outbreak of a virulent strain of bird flu in Hong Kong last year, which led to the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of chickens.

The mad cow outbreak badly hurt McDonald's sales, forcing it to close about 130 outlets, despite a savage price-cutting campaign.

The company's shares were launched amid a great fanfare last year. They started trading at 4,700 yen (£27) but have slid back as analysts downgraded profits forecasts. They closed at 2,890 yen today.

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