McDonald’s fries are a guilty pleasure. I’m not even going to deny that sometimes I get a craving for their warm, salty goodness. Throw in a couple of dipping sauces and maybe a sneaky side of chicken nuggets, and it’s a party.

However, if you’re living in Japan and want to get a large order of McDonald’s fries, you might be disappointed. As it turns out, there is a fry shortage in the country and as a result, chains are having to ration their spuds.

Photo: flickr/Stock Catalog

The spud shortage is a result of the company having importation issues – most likely a direct result of the flooding situation in Canada since Canada is often an important transit point. While it might seem amusing at first, it is actually a really big issue. In fact, it’s so bad of an issue that McDonald’s charted three different 747 airplanes in order to fly potatoes out to Japan in order to try and make the demand.

In a statement to the BBC, a spokesperson for McDonald’s said, “McDonald’s Japan will temporarily limit sales of Medium- and Large-sized French Fries as a proactive measure to ensure customers can continue to enjoy McDonald’s French Fries.”

Photo: flickr/Marco Verch Professional Photographer

Even though it’s not the most critical of shortages, the news of the fry shortage did create a panicked rush ahead of the fast-food chain’s limited supplies, which went into effect on the 20th of December.

As one consumer, Sakato Mayumi, admitted to NBC News, “I did not plan to eat at McDonald’s today. But then, I knew from the news that McDonald’s will not provide fries in medium portions and large portions from Friday for a week. I went to McDonald’s and had a set meal with large portions of fries.”

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

From now until the supply chain issue is resolved, the fry ration means that customers can only order a small order of fries. However, multiple orders of small fries may or may not be tolerated – that is still unclear.

What do you think of the fry-supply issue facing Japan? Let us know!