US meat shortage makes Wendy’s remove beef from its menu

Image: Michael Form and Engin Akyur / Pixabay

Mohsina Dodhiya7th May 20209th October 2020Food, News

Some Wendy’s outlets in the US have had to rework their menus due to beef shortages amid the coronavirus outbreak.

With coronavirus disrupting the US meat supply chain, Wendy’s has started taking beef items off its menu.

The fast food giant’s policy of using ‘fresh not frozen’ beef is proving to be a deterrent as other chains have alternate means of importing frozen meat from other countries.

Banner

Acknowledging the situation in a statement, Wendy’s said: “As you’ve likely heard, beef suppliers across North America are currently facing production challenges.

“Because of this, some of our menu items may be in short supply from time to time.”

While the fast-food giant has already removed beef burgers from its restaurants in California, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois, it is still offering chicken and pork products, along with beef in other locations for the time-being.

COViD-19 impact on meat plants

According to health reports, the novel coronavirus, which reportedly spawned from a wet market in Wuhan, China rapidly spread in slaughterhouses and meat processing facilities, as workers were unable to maintain social distancing measures and had little time for observing sanitation during their gruelling work hours.

As a result, a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report’s estimation found that nearly 5,000 slaughterhouse workers across plants contracted COVD-19. And, at least 20 workers died.

The grim situation led to some 20 slaughterhouses suspending operations or shutting down last month. Among them were Tyson Foods, who had to shut down its largest pork processing plant in Waterloo, IA along with other meat industry giants including Smithfield, Cargill, National Beef, and JBS.

However, with North America’s meat-supply chain crumbling, meat processing giants warned of impending meat shortages in the country prompting Trump to sign an executive order that mandated slaughterhouses to remain open despite the infection looming in these plants.