Advertisement

Cargill apologizes for McNugget problem in Japan

January 8, 2015 at 11:57AM
McDonald's Holdings Company Senior Vice President Takehiko Aoki, right, and McDonald's Company Ltd. Senior Vice President Hidehito Hishinuma, center, bow at the start of a press conference in Tokyo, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. McDonald's Corp. officials in Japan bowed deeply Wednesday to apologize for a human tooth, plastic pieces and other objects found in the burger chain's food, highlighting how consumers here are both loving and hating the popular fast-food eatery. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
McDonald's Holdings Company Senior Vice President Takehiko Aoki, right, and McDonald's Company Ltd. Senior Vice President Hidehito Hishinuma, center, bow at the start of a news conference in Tokyo, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. (Evan Ramstad — AP/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

After plastic popped up in McDonald's Chicken McNuggets sold in Japan, Cargill Inc. is extending all apologies.

That's because the suspect nuggets were supplied by Cargill's chicken processing operations in Thailand.

McDonald's is one of Minnetonka-based Cargill's biggest customers, and the agribusiness giant is one of the fast-food behemoth's largest suppliers.

A customer at a McDonald's in northern Japan found a piece of plastic about 1 ½ inches long in an order of McNuggets. Bloomberg News reported a second plastic-in-McNuggets incident at a McDonald's in Tokyo.

McDonald's apologized to its customers. Cargill apologized "for any concerns caused by this situation," the company said in a statement.

"Food quality is our top priority, and we take these matters very seriously. We are now taking every action we can in collaboration with McDonald's to determine the facts," Cargill said. "Based on the outcome of this investigation, we will make any changes required to improve processes."

The McNugget issue comes at a bad time for McDonald's in Japan. It hasn't made money for a few years, and it's had other food safety incidents recently, unrelated to Cargill.

Last summer, a human tooth surfaced in an order of Golden Arches french fries. A Japanese child was injured last month after consuming a chocolate sundae with a piece of plastic in it.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Mike Hughlett • 612-673-7003

about the writer

about the writer

Mike Hughlett

Reporter

Mike Hughlett covers energy and other topics for the Minnesota Star Tribune, where he has worked since 2010. Before that he was a reporter at newspapers in Chicago, St. Paul, New Orleans and Duluth.

See Moreicon

More from Business

See More
card image

In this end-of-week roundup of Minnesota food and agriculture news, take a wild guess how high coffee prices are impacting a company that plans to brew 66 million cups of cold brew this year.

In this image from video, presiding officer Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts speaks during the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020. (Senate Television via AP)
card image
Advertisement
Advertisement

To leave a comment, .

Advertisement