NEWSONJAPAN

McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) said Tuesday its sales plunged 25.1 percent in August from a year earlier on a same-store basis due largely to food safety concerns, marking the biggest fall since it went public in 2001.

After one of its suppliers in China, Shanghai Husi Food Co., was found in late July to have sold spoiled and expired meat, the number of visitors to McDonald's Japan outlets fell 16.9 percent in August, the biggest decline since June 2002, when it was hit by scare over an outbreak of mad cow disease in the country.

Average sales per customer also went down 9.8 percent in the reporting month, the company said.