Faecal Substance Found In Popular Food Chains In UK After Testing

The reason why some people are cynical about eating food outside is that one can never really be sure about what they are being served. From stale to purely adulterated the quality of the food is always questionable.

Just to validate it for you, in a test run by BBC's Watchdog programme, faecal bacteria has been found in ice at McDonald's, KFC and Burger King across the UK.

More than 10 random branches of these popular food chains were examined and bacteria, known as faecal coliforms was found. 3 McDonald's samples, 6 of Burger Kind samples and 7 of KFC samples were found contaminated.

The ice at all these stores was tested for coliforms and has been advised 'not-safe' for human consumption.

It's extremely worrying. When we're finding the sorts of numbers we're finding here, you have to look at the people making the ice, handling the ice, which they then transfer into customers' drinks.

And then you also have to look at hygiene failure with potentially the machines themselves,are they being kept clean?

It is pleasing that Escherichia coli (E. coli), the bacterium that is the most accurate and reliable indicator of faecal contamination, was not found in any ice samples from McDonald's restaurants.

Low levels of two other indicator bacteria, coliforms and enterococci, were found in some ice samples.

These can be used as an assessment of water hygiene but, as they are widely distributed in the natural environment, they are not reliable indicators of potential health risks.



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McDonald's Sales High

McDonald's just posted its best quarterly same-store sales gains in years. Sales at restaurants open at least a year jumped 5% globally, including a 5.7% increase in the US, for the quarter ending December 31.

McDonald's says its turnaround efforts are driving the momentum, and particularly the launch of all-day breakfast in October.

According to retail consulting firm Conlumino, the all-day breakfast launch and other menu tweaks have fixed customers' top complaint about McDonald's: lack of menu choice and variety.

"While this has added to operational complexity," Neil Saunders, CEO of Conlumino, wrote of all-day breakfast, "it has been a vital step in providing more choice and variety – which, according to our research, are two of the main things that lapsed McDonald’s customers mentioned as reasons for their defection."

"The early signs are that this step change has been successful in attracting back lost customers, especially over the important lunchtime period."

In addition to all-day breakfast, McDonald's has expanded its customizable burger offerings and tested healthier items like kale salads in the last year.

While kale salads will "never the mainstay of McDonald's menu" and are arguably unlikely to attract highly health-conscious consumers, they are helping improve McDonald's public image, Saunders wrote.

There's a downside to these changes, however. Adding menu items brings more complexity to kitchen operations, and slows down service — which has been another complaint from customers and a main source of frustration from franchisees.

But McDonald's has no choice if it wants to be competitive, according to Saunders.

In our view this is very much a case of there being no alternative: the market has changed and the customer has slightly different priorities now to 10 years ago McDonald’s had to move with the times or face continued deterioration.

JAPAN: Public Loses appetite, McDonald's Not Doing Good Business In Japan

McDonald's decision to consider selling a chunk of its stake in McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) stems from concern about dim prospects for recovery from a protracted slump and a shift that has cost Japan its central role in the U.S. fast-food giant's plans.

The holding company was established in 1971 as McDonald's Japan, a 50-50 joint venture between McDonald's and Fujita & Co., a trading company run by Den Fujita. An aggressive store-opening strategy spread the chain's convenient hamburgers throughout the country. Customers flocked to the company's low-priced offerings around 2000, when the economy was mired in deflation.

McDonald's Japan listed on the Jasdaq market in 2001. The Fujita family sold nearly all of its shares by 2005, while the American parent continued to hold a roughly 50% stake.

Same-store sales began slumping around 2012 amid escalating competition with other budget restaurants and with convenience stores. The problem was compounded by reports in July 2014 that the company had used expired chicken, as well as by contamination of food with foreign objects in January 2015. All-store sales have tumbled 30% from a peak five years ago. The U.S. parent apparently saw a need for restructuring with outside money and expertise.

McDonald's itself has struggled in recent years as consumers worldwide have drifted away. CEO Steve Easterbrook, who took office in March, has changed the company's global organizational structure. The old geographical market groupings were reworked this July into four new categories: the U.S., international lead markets expected to drive growth, high-growth markets, and foundational markets.

Japan has been categorized as a foundational market contributing relatively little to overall profit, putting it among around 80 countries and regions in such areas as the Middle East, India and Latin America. Operations in many of these markets are run by local businesses that pay royalties to the American company. In Japan's case, McDonald's likely determined that the market has little bearing on group earnings despite the high number of stores.