McDonald’s apologises to Japan as vinyl found in its food

The Japanese arm of American fast-food giant McDonald's apologized on Wednesday for the contamination found in some food items at its restaurants.

In another scandal that could weigh down sales,McDonald's Holdings Japan was forced to admit it had goofed after customers found strange substances in their food.

"We deeply apologize for having caused considerable inconvenience and concern," Takehiko Aoki, senior vice president of the company, said at a press conference. President Sarah Casanova was not present at the news conference due to a business trip.

The Japanese unit of the world's biggest fast-food chain admitted there were several cases in recent months in which customers had found objects such as bits of vinyl or plastic in a Chicken McNugget and other products sold at outlets in different parts of the country.

"These cases will not cause serious health problems," Aoki added.

In one incident, a child suffered a slight cut in the mouth caused by a 2-3 cm piece of plastic in a Chocolate Sundae sold at an outlet in Fukushima Prefecture on 19 December. McDonald's Japan said the problem was due to a faulty dessert machine, and the restaurant had stopped using it.

It was also learned on Tuesday that a customer in Osaka Prefecture had complained in August of a small object in fries that was later found to be a human tooth. The company claimed it is unlikely that the tooth had dropped into the fries during preparation.

The latest scandal is another blow to McDonald's Japan, already struggling with falling sales following a food-safety scandal last summer involving a Chinese-based meat supplier caught relabeling expired meat and breaching other rules.

The company has since halted all imports of chicken products from China, switching its sourcing to Thailand. But the contaminated nugget, found in Aomori Prefecture on Saturday, had been produced at a Thai plant.

Nuggets produced on the same manufacturing line at the plant were delivered to restaurants in a total of 14 prefectures, including Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, and 99 percent have already been sold, the company said.

In October, McDonald's Japan projected it would log a ¥17 billion ($142.7 million) net loss for 2014, its first swing to the red in 11 years, compared with a net profit of ¥5.14 billion for 2013.

The company has said it is investing in measures to improve product quality, such as unannounced audits of suppliers and distribution of more food-quality information to customers.

Little is published about the profitability of McDonald's Indian operations; but despite the advantage of being able to offer free home delivery – available nowhere except in India – it has not shown any great expansion.