Japan McDonald's McNuggets Food Crisis: Vinyl Found In Chicken Product

Japan’s McDonald's restaurants are facing another food crisis after vinyl was discovered in an order of Chicken McNuggets at an Aomori location, according to a spokesperson from the company on Monday. The McDonald's Japan spokesperson said the contaminated nuggets were recalled back to its Tokyo headquarters for investigation, according to the Wall Street Journal. The incident received widespread media attention on Monday after Japan’s national broadcaster NHK and national newspaper Yomiuri reported it, according to India Times.

After Chinese supplier Shanghai Husi Food Co. reportedly sold expired meat to McDonald’s chains in July 2014, McDonald’s Japan, which at the time sourced its meat from both China and Thailand, stopped importing from China because of consumer distrust. McDonald’s Japan has since sourced its chicken from three suppliers in Thailand.

Just last month, McDonald’s Japan experienced a shortage of frozen french fries after imports were delayed because of labor disputes at shipping ports along the United States' West Coast. McDonald’s had to temporarily stop sales of medium and large-size portions of its french fries across Japan, but resumed sales of all sizes of fries on Monday.

Sales have been declining at McDonald’s across Japan, marking its 10th consecutive monthly decline in November 2014. The fast-food chain forecast its first loss in 11 years in October 2014, according to Reuters. McDonald’s Holdings Japan announced in a press release last November that it was implementing a plan to recover its business by “regaining customers’ confidence in (its) food” and “strengthening (its) focus on relevant pricing, menu innovation and modernizing (its) restaurants.”