McDonald's Corp. is rushing U.S. beef into Ontario and Alberta as part of a contingency supply plan because of mad cow disease, which has stricken Canada's beef industry for the past two weeks

Food & Drink Weekly, June 9, 2003

McDonald's Corp. is rushing U.S. beef into Ontario and Alberta as part of a contingency supply plan because of mad cow disease, which has stricken Canada's beef industry for the past two weeks. The move is designed to protect the company against any supply interruption resulting from the emergence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, found in a diseased cow in northern Alberta and reported by officials May 20.

Canadian beef sources for McDonald's Restaurants of Canada are usually augmented by imports from Australia and New Zealand. But U.S. beef has been ordered as a contingency should the crisis be prolonged.