McDonald continues to face drama

The operator of the McDonald’s chain in Japan continues to experience drama with its side menu offerings.

A piece of vinyl was found in a chicken nugget sold over the weekend at one of its restaurants in the northern prefecture of Aomori, a spokesman for McDonald’s Holdings Co.2702.TO -0.68% (Japan) Ltd. said Monday.

As a result of the discovery, the fast food chain stopped sales of nuggets that were produced at a Thai plant on the same day that the nugget was made, the spokesman said. He added that the contaminated nugget is currently being transported to the company’s headquarters in Tokyo for further investigation.

McDonald’s Japan has been relying on three plants in Thailand for its Chicken McNuggets since Chinese supplier Shanghai Husi Food Co. was accused in Chinese media of intentionally selling expired meat last year.

The Japanese company, which until that point been buying its chicken nuggets from Shanghai Husi, quickly halted sales of all products made with Chinese chicken.

Since the meat-supply problem came to light in July, McDonald’s Japan has been suffering from sharp falls in sales. It marked its 10th straight monthly sales decline in November. Largely due to the impact of the scandal, it now expects to post its first net loss in 11 years in the current fiscal year.

But chicken nuggets aren’t the only finger food creating a headache for McDonald’s. Last month the company had to temporarily stop selling medium and large servings of french fries due a shortage of potatoes as a result of a labor dispute at U.S. West Coast ports.

In line with a previous announcement, it resumed sales of all sizes of french fries on Monday.