CHICAGO - McDonald's says mad cow concerns continue to impact sales in some European countries, but the company has seen a rebound in France, the first market hurt by the beef scare on the Continent.
"The consumer confidence issues are still there," Chief Financial Officer Mike Conley told investors. "Different governments are handling it differently."
The fast-food giant, which last year got $US9.29 billion, or 23 per cent, of its yearly systemwide sales of $US 40.18 billion in Europe, is still facing consumer skittishness over hamburgers in Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece, Conley said during an investor conference in New York.
Mad cow, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), moved through British herds in the 1980s and since late last year has spread through several Continental European countries.
A human form of the fatal brain-wasting disease is believed to be transmitted to people by eating tainted beef.
No McDonald's products have been linked to the disease.
McDonald's sales still affected by mad cow concerns
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