Russian Consumer Agency Wants to Ban McDonald's Royal Cheeseburger And Filet-o-Fish

Russia's consumer protection agency has filed a lawsuit seeking to ban some of McDonald's burgers, milkshakes and ice cream.

A regional branch of the consumer protection agency, Rospotrebnadzor, asked the court to ban production and sales of some products due to "inappropriate physical-chemical parameters" a court spokeswoman told Reuters.

The lawsuit challenged the fast-food chain's Royal Cheeseburger, Filet-o-Fish, Cheeseburger and Chicken Burger but not the Big Mac.

In a statement, McDonald's said it had not received a complaint from the consumer protection agency and had no information on the lawsuit. The fast-food giant said its products were produced by methods approved by the relevant authorities.

The lawsuit comes three months after McDonald's shut restaurants in Crimea, in the wake of the peninsula's annexation by Russia.

Meanwhile, McDonald's Japan said it would halt imports of chicken from China while its restaurants would stop selling Chinese chicken meat due to a food safety scandal over expired meat being sold to fast food restaurants.

The company said it would source chicken from Thailand to "address the concerns of our customers" in Japan.

"We made this decision in view of the growing concern over McDonald's chicken products made in China," Sarah Casanova, the Japanese unit's chief executive, said in a statement.

McDonald's has more than 3,000 outlets in Japan.