Update: Shut Up And Eat - McDonald's Corp. faces drop in profits due to fears of mad cow disease - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Ecologist, The, March, 2001

Customers have started to shun McDonald's, the largest buyer of agricultural commodities in Europe, amid fears that its burgers might be infected with BSE. The fast food company blamed the European BSE crisis for a 10 per cent decline in regional sales and a first drop of profits for more than two years.

Quarterly profits fell by $34m to $452m in the last three months of the year. McDonald's has been particularly badly hit in France, Germany, Spain and Italy. Italy's first reported case of suspected mad cow disease was reported at a slaughterhouse owned by the Cremonini company, the exclusive meat supplier to McDonald's in Italy. Over in the US, the picture is equally grim. Merrill Lynch and Salomon Smith Barney cut their earnings forecast for the stock, citing concern over the company's international business. As a result of pressure from Greenpeace, McDonald's has announced that, from April 2001, all its restaurants in the UK, Sweden, Germany and Denmark will serve only chicken raised on GM-free feed.