Food-safety issues have dragged on McDonald's business in Japan.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Supplier problems continued to dog McDonald's Holdings Co. Ltd. in Japan.

The company apologized to its customers after plastic fragments were found in Chicken McNuggets. McDonald's Japan removed 956,925 nuggets, which were made by a Cargill facility in Thailand. Cargill also issued an apology, according to news reports.

The incidents are the latest in a string of food-related problems that have negatively impacted McDonald's Japan, a separate company in which McDonald's Corp. is the major stakeholder. In July, McDonald's Japan was one of several quick service restaurant chains impacted by alleged food safety issues involving a Chinese supplier.

A piece of vinyl was recently found in a chicken nugget sold at a McDonald's in Misawa.

In August, a customer at a McDonald's in Osaka found a human tooth in an order of french fries.
Finally, labor disputes ports on the West Coast forced the company to ration orders of french fries at McDonald's locations in Japan. The ration recently was lifted after the company airlifted french fries into Japan and added more shipments out of ports on the East Coast.

Global comparable sales at McDonald's Corp. fell 2.2 in November. Comparable sales in the APMEA’s region declined 4 percent, reflecting the ongoing impact of supplier issues on performance in Japan and China.