Japanese branches of US burger giant McDonald’s are pulling chicken products from their menu as stocks of chicken dwindled following the import ban on US chicken.
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The ban was imposed 18 March after an episode of bird flu in Virginia. While bird flu poses no risk to human health, and indeed can only be passed on by live birds, Japan is keen to be seen to act swiftly and forcefully after it was accused of a slow and careless response to an outbreak of BSE.
While the ban has since been lifted for chickens from all but three US states, unfortunately one of the latter is Virginia, where nearly all of the poultry used by McDonald’s Japan is sourced.
Perennial favourite Chicken McNuggets are not the only menu item in danger. Chicken Tatsuta and the Teriyaki Burger sold exclusively in the company’s Japanese outlets, are also said to be at risk.
A spokesman for McDonald’s said it hoped to restart nugget sales before the end of April, and was investigating alternative sources of chicken, including China.
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