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McDonald’s Korea has halted sales of its Chungju corn cheese croquette burger nationwide after multiple customers reported biting into hard, stone-like debris.
The burger launched on July 9, 2026, as the sixth item in McDonald’s “Taste of Korea” series, a promotion built around regional ingredients and local farmers. It featured a deep-fried mozzarella croquette filled with waxy corn kernels sourced from Chungju in North Chungcheong Province.
A commercial hit pulled almost two weeks early
The burger had sold over one million units in just over two weeks, using around 25 metric tons of locally sourced corn.
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Sales were originally scheduled to run until August 12 but were suspended nationwide at 8:00 pm on July 30, after at least three customers reported finding hard debris in their food.
According to The Korea Times, a McDonald’s Korea official confirmed the decision was a safety precaution.
“There were complaints that customers bit into stones, and this is an issue related to safety,” the official said. “So, considering customer safety, McDonald’s took the preemptive measure of ending sales early.”
Internal policy mandates a suspension once three or more identical safety complaints are received. The company is now investigating alongside its farms and raw material suppliers to determine how the objects entered the supply chain.
The exact composition of the foreign material has not been officially confirmed as stone, but McDonald’s Korea has said sales of the burger have been terminated permanently, with no plans to bring it back even if the source is identified.
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Food safety scares involving unexpected foreign objects aren’t rare. Earlier in 2026, the FDA issued a recall covering nearly 2,000 products after a warehouse inspection found rodent and bird waste contamination affecting a wide range of household and pantry goods.
