McDonald’s (MCD) has had a rough year.
The fast-food chain has been battling low sales all year as consumers across the country are increasingly avoiding fast-food restaurants in order to dodge inflated prices.
The trend has contributed to McDonald’s facing a 3% year-over-year decline in its net income during the third quarter of this year.
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McDonald’s was also recently hit with an unsettling E. coli outbreak, which affected multiple restaurant locations across the country, scaring away even more customers.
Related: McDonald’s makes a desperate move to win back fleeing customers
The outbreak sickened more than 100 people, hospitalized 34, and even killed one person. It is the first serious public health issue McDonald’s has faced at its U.S. restaurants in more than 40 years.
McDonald's faces another major headwind
To add to McDonald’s list of woes, the company’s expresso machines are now malfunctioning at multiple U.S. locations, which is posing a safety risk to its employees, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.
A faulty component in the machines, which are manufactured by Melitta, could forcefully emit steam, causing the part to break.
As a result of this issue, McDonald’s customers will have to find a new place to get their expresso fix since the fast-food chain is temporarily pulling hot and cold expresso drinks from its menus at multiple restaurants across the country.
McDonald’s sells a wide variety of expresso drinks such as its Caramel Macchiato, Mocha Frappé, French Vanilla Cappuccino, etc.
The drastic decision from McDonald’s comes after Melitta, which is investigating the issue, advised McDonald’s operators in a letter to stop using the machines for up to three weeks, according to the Journal.
"We have moved quickly to decommission these machines in McDonald's restaurants and are staying in contact with our supplier to resolve the issue," said McDonald's in a statement to the Journal. "We are still determining the scope of the impact."
McDonald's is on a rocky road to recovery
Another calamity is the last thing McDonald’s needs. Last month, McDonald’s had to remove its Quarter Pounder hamburger from menus nationwide as a result of the E.coli outbreak.
Related: McDonald’s new $5 Meal Deal isn’t going as planned (so far ...)
During an earnings call on Oct. 29, McDonald’s Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden confirmed that the outbreak caused “daily negative sales and guest count” at the company’s U.S. restaurants.
“We certainly are fully focused on getting the U.S. business back to the momentum that we were seeing, working hard to kind of restore [the] confidence of all of our consumers,” said Borden during the call.
More Food + Dining:
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- McDonald’s is facing the brutal aftermath of price increases
In late October, McDonald’s put the Quarter Pounder back on its menus, and the company has been doing expensive damage control ever since.
The company is reportedly spending $100 million to help attract customers back into its restaurants. McDonald’s is investing $35 million in marketing to advertise its value meal deals and $65 million toward franchisees that were negatively impacted by the outbreak.
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