Major change coming to McDonald’s in Australia

Australians may soon find it harder to order popular dishes at McDonald’s as the country’s supply of chicken eggs dries up following outbreaks of bird flu.

A spokesperson for the fast food giant told Daily Mail Australia on Monday that franchises will no longer offer the breakfast menu from 10:30am, but from noon.

According to them, the decision was taken because the catering industry and supermarkets are experiencing a shortage of eggs as a result of bird flu.

Two farms in New South Wales and eight in Victoria have been forced to close or cull their livestock to stop the spread of the disease, leading to an egg shortage.

The morning menu offers a wide variety of McMuffins with a fried egg and the famous hotcakes with eggs in the batter. Hash browns are available all day.

“We know our customers love Macca’s breakfast. To ensure we can continue to serve fresh Australian eggs on our menu, we are temporarily offering breakfast until 10.30am across Australia,” the spokesperson said.

‘This means customers can continue to enjoy all their favourite breakfast dishes, such as the Bacon & Egg McMuffin, Sausage & Egg McMuffin and the Big Brekkie Burger, but they will just have to get there a little earlier than usual.

“We continue to work closely with our network of Australian farmers, producers and suppliers as the industry comes together to meet this challenge.”

The morning menu offers a wide choice of McMuffins with a fried egg and the famous pancakes where the fast food chain uses eggs in the batter

McDonald’s is the latest to take action against the egg shortage, after Woolworths announced a limit on the number of eggs customers can buy.

The supermarket chain has imposed a limit of two packs per person due to a ‘delay’ in stock.

The limits apply to stores in NSW, ACT and Victoria. Other states remain unaffected.

“Like other retailers, we are expecting a short delay in stock from one of our egg suppliers in NSW, ACT and Victoria due to the temporary closure of one of their packing sheds,” a Woolworths spokesperson said.

“Their supply is expected to increase again in the coming week as they ramp up operations at their other locations.”

Woolworths’ decision follows that of supermarket rival Coles, which previously imposed its own two-box limit.

Coles’ rationing applies nationwide, with the exception of Western Australia.

Woolworths said the measure was a “precautionary measure” and it expected it to be withdrawn quickly.

“Currently, the majority of customers only buy one carton of eggs at a time, and there is no reason to change that,” the spokesperson said.

‘We encourage consumers to be considerate of others and only buy what they would normally buy.’

Bird flu has been detected on two poultry farms in NSW and eight in Victoria, leading to an expected culling of more than a million birds in a bid to contain the outbreak (pictured: Health authorities on a farm in Victoria)

More than a million birds are expected to die in Victoria as a result of the outbreak, while in New South Wales the death toll is more than 320,000.

The NSW Health website states: ‘Bird flu is caused by influenza A viruses, which are similar to the virus that causes seasonal flu in humans.’

‘The disease mainly occurs among wild waterfowl, but can sometimes also be transmitted to humans, although this happens rarely.’

Bird flu can cause mild to severe illness in birds and other animals.

Most bird flu infections in humans are mild and cause no symptoms.

If they do occur, the most common symptoms are fever, cough, fatigue, muscle aches and sore throat.