McDonald’s Japan Probes Tooth in Fries, Cargill Nuggets

By Kiyotaka Matsuda 

McDonald’s Corp.’s Japan business said today a human tooth was found in fries, and plastics in chicken nuggets and sundae, in a series of food-safety issues that happened in the past six months.
The affected nuggets, supplied by Cargill Inc.’s Thai unit, were sold at two outlets in Japan, including one in Tokyo, according to spokesman Takashi Hasegawa. The fast-food chain is seeking new nugget suppliers including in Brazil, Hidehito Hishinuma, a director at the company, said at a briefing held in Tokyo today.
“We have already begun an investigation into this matter,” Bruce Blakeman, Singapore-based vice president of corporate affairs for Cargill Asia Pacific, said in an e-mailed statement. Cargill, based in Minneapolis, will work closely with McDonald’s as its investigation progresses, he said.
McDonald’s Japan had switched sources of chicken nuggets to three Thailand factories, including two of Cargill’s, after a food supplier scandal in China hit McDonald’s
restaurants in both countries last July, Hasegawa said. The change came after Shanghai Husi Food Co., a unit of Aurora, Illinois-based OSI Group Inc., was featured in a local television report on July 20 that showed workers repackaging old meat and changing expiration dates.

Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

The fast-food chain is seeking new nugget suppliers including in Brazil, and doesn’t... Read More

The company doesn’t plan to halt production and sale of the food items after plastic objects were found in chicken nuggets, Hishinuma said.
McDonald’s Japan also said today it had investigated a customer’s complaint last August that a packet of french fries containing a human tooth was served. Those checks were inconclusive as the source of the tooth couldn’t be identified, Hishinuma said. The company has apologized to the customer, he said.

Child Injury

Separately, a child was injured last month after drinking a chocolate sundae that contained a plastic object that originated from freezing equipment at a McDonald’s Japan outlet in Fukushima prefecture, Hishinuma said, adding that the store has stopped using the freezer.
The company can’t assess the incidents’ impact on sales, and it will announce those appropriately if any, another director Takehiko Aoki said at today’s briefing. McDonald’s Japan shares fell 0.9 percent to 2,552 yen at the close of trading in Tokyo for a sixth straight day of declines.
The Japanese chain last year withdrew its forecast for a first profit increase since 2011 and predicted a 17 billion yen net loss in 2014 after suspending sales of chicken nuggets from China. It was also forced to ration french fries last month after a labor dispute at U.S. ports crimped supplies of potatoes.

Photographer: Yuriko Nakao/Bloomberg

A man waits to place his order at a McDonald's restaurant, operated by McDonald's... Read More

Parent McDonald’s Corp. (MCD), the world’s largest restaurant chain based in Oak Brook, Illinois, on Dec. 8 posted its worst monthly U.S. sales decline in more than a decade and said the China food scare took a toll on profit.