A human tooth was reportedly served with french fries at a McDonald’s in Japan last year – the latest in a series of woes involving contaminated nuggets and a chip shortage.

A customer complained to the Japanese arm of the fast food giant after finding a foreign object in a serving of potatoes from an outlet in Osaka, television networks said.

The item had apparently been deep-fried.

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Independent investigations ordered by McDonald’s determined it was a tooth, broadcasters said. A statement from McDonald’s given to the woman, obtained by a TV station, said the object was “believed to be a tooth”.

“I received an apology only when the store manager came over,” the customer, whose name was not revealed, told the JNN network.

“The manager didn’t really talk about how it got in and what action they will take in the future.”

The Asahi network said it was not known how a tooth could have been mixed with the fries.

McDonald’s said there were no employees missing a tooth at the outlet and it believed there was a very low possibility of contamination at the US factory that had shipped the chips.

The company was expected to hold a media conference later on Wednesday.

The incident is the latest public relations setback for the firm, which has seen its reputation suffer in Japan.

McDonald’s has previously confirmed a customer found a piece of vinyl inside a chicken nugget sold by an outlet in the northern city of Misawa, and there was a similar case of contamination at a Tokyo branch.

Reports also said a tiny piece of plastic was found in a sundae in the northeastern city of Koriyama in December.

Late last year, the company had to airlift an emergency supply of french fries from the US after a chip shortage had resulted in rationing at its 3000 restaurants across the country.