McDonald's Venezuela Takes Big Macs Off Menu

A severe and ongoing economic crisis in Venezuela has led to food shortages so bad that this week McDonald's announced that it was temporarily taking Big Macs off the menu in that country.

According to CNN, McDonald's says it has been unable to acquire sufficient quantities of the thin middle bun that sits in the middle of the chain's most iconic hamburger, so the Big Mac is coming off the menu until they can get more. At the moment, McDonald's Venezuela still serves its other products, including Quarter Pounders. French fries were off the menu for about 10 months are at McDonald's restaurants in Venezuela, but they're back now, but Eater reports that a large serving of fries was selling for the equivalent of $133.

The economic crisis in Venezuela has caused extreme shortages of essential supplies like food and basic toiletries. Last Sunday the border between Colombia and Venezuela was temporarily opened, which allowed more than 100,000 Venezuelans to cross the border to buy supplies that are still unavailable in their own country.