FILE - In this Dec. 17, 2014 file photo, people eat at a McDonald's restaurant in Tokyo. McDonald's Corp. officials in Japan bowed deeply Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015 to apologize for a human tooth, plastic... (Associated Press) 
 
 TOKYO (AP) — McDonald's Corp. officials in Japan bowed deeply Wednesday to apologize for a human tooth, plastic pieces and other objects found in the burger chain's food, highlighting how consumers here are both loving and hating the fast-food eatery. 
 
 The hubbub over objects turning up in the food comes on the heels of a different kind of problem at the popular chain — a lack of fries, stemming from a shortage set off by labor disruptions on the U.S. West Coast. Last year, McDonald's in China and Japan along with other fast-food brands were hit by a scandal over expired meat from a Chinese supplier. 
 
 In the recent cases, a child's mouth was injured by a piece of plastic in an ice cream sundae in December. The fragment had fallen into the dispenser while being assembled, according to McDonald's. 
 
 In another case, a customer who bought a Big Mac set in August last year found a tooth in the fries. McDonald's said none of its employees at the outlet or its suppliers had lost a tooth, and there were no signs the tooth had been fried. It was still investigating how the tooth and plastic got in the food. 
 
 "To make such cases zero is our goal," said Takehiko Aoki, a senior executive. "We are doing our utmost to tackle them, one by one." 
 
 Aoki denied such cases highlighted an overall quality-control problem and called them "isolated" cases. He acknowledged there were other cases, including metal in a pancake and plastic in a McMuffin, but declined to give a tally of the incidents. 
 
 He said it was possible that outsiders had planted the tooth and other items. 
 
 In two other cases, pieces of plastic were found in the Chicken McNuggets, delivered from a plant in Thailand. One was blue, and so it could have fallen in during production, but the other was clear, a type not used at McDonald's, officials said. 
 
 "I will eat McNuggets. I will feed McNuggets to my children. I have no doubts," said Aoki. 
 
 McDonald's is popular in Japan, running more than 3,000 restaurants. 
 
 Over the years, it has survived "mad cow" scares and more general health worries about high calories. Orders for fries were limited last year to small servings because of a potato shortage. Large fries came back Monday. 
 
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 Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama 

 The McDonald's sign is reflected in a puddle in Tokyo January 7, 2015. 
 
 TOKYO McDonald's Japan (2702.T) has apologized to customers and vowed to ensure product safety after objects including a tooth and plastic were found in its food, the latest trouble for a fast-food chain hit by sliding sales and a shortage of french fries. 
 
 The chain, 49.9 percent-owned by McDonald's Corp (MCD.N), has been grappling with falling sales that began long before a food safety scandal last summer hit confidence in its products. Convenience stores in particular have drawn away customers with broader ranges of ready-made meals and low-priced coffee. 
 
 McDonald's Japan brought in Chief Executive Sarah Casanova last March to reverse the trend, but the company is still on track to record its sixth straight year of sales declines and its first annual loss in 11 years. 
 
 Wednesday's apology came after a diner found a roughly 4 cm (1 1/2 inch) strip of vinyl in a Chicken McNugget at the weekend. That prompted the chain to halt sales of nuggets made on the same day as the contaminated item at a plant in Thailand. The company is still investigating the cause. 
 
 Among other incidents, a human tooth was found in a customer's french fry in August, while a child in December cut his mouth on a piece of plastic that was in a chocolate sundae. 
 
 At a packed news conference, executives sought to reassure the public of the safety of McDonald's food. 
 
 "I am confident that my family can eat McDonald's products," said Takehiko Aoki, senior vice president at McDonald's Holding Co (Japan) Ltd. 
 
 "I think our response has been appropriate," he said when questioned on whether the company had been slow to announce its findings, explaining that the handling of each case is different. 
 
 McDonald's Japan only started sourcing nuggets from three Thai plants less than six months ago. The change was aimed at boosting confidence in product quality after Chinese supplier Shanghai Husi Food Co Ltd was accused of selling expired meat. 
 
 The Thai plant that produced the nugget found to contain vinyl is located in Saraburi, owned by Cargill, McDonald's Japan said. Cargill Thailand was not immediately available for comment. 
 
 On Monday, just days after the latest discovery, McDonald's Japan resumed sales of all sizes of french fries for the first time in three weeks. A labor dispute at U.S. West Coast ports had delayed imports, forcing the company to ration portions. 
 
 McDonald's Japan shares closed down 0.9 percent on Wednesday versus a 0.3 percent rise in the Jasdaq index .JSD. 
 
 (Additional reporting by Chris Meyers in TOKYO and Khettiya Jittapong in BANGKOK; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Elaine Hardcastle) 

 TOKYO—The operator of the McDonald’s chain in Japan on Wednesday disclosed four cases of contaminated food throughout the country, fueling already-heightened food-safety concerns after its Chinese supplier was reported to have sold expired chicken nuggets. 
 
 McDonald’s Holdings Co. (Japan) Ltd. said a human tooth was found inside a pack of french fries sold in Osaka in August. In Fukushima prefecture, a child was also slightly injured...
– Things you don't expect to hear from McDonald's: There is no indication that a human tooth found in an order of fries was fried. That from the fast-food giant's Japan unit, which has been digging into the discovery of the tooth, which turned up in an order placed in August in Osaka. McDonald’s Holdings Co. (Japan) Ltd. further says it doesn't yet know how it ended up there: Workers at the plant that produces the fries don face masks, and none of the employees of the location in question reported an absent tooth. As the AP puts it, McDonald's Japan officials "bowed deeply" today in apology over the tooth, as well as plastic pieces that were recently found in its food. The Wall Street Journal reports that three plastic incidents were discussed. A child eating a sundae last month was lightly injured by a plastic piece determined to have come from a machine involved in assembling the dessert. The other two incidents involved plastic in chicken nuggets: One was blue, and so it could have fallen in during production (its Thai suppliers use colored materials to make it easier to sight instances of contamination), but the other was clear, a type not used at McDonald's, officials say. Reuters notes that McDonald's Japan has been obtaining its nuggets from Thai producers for less than six months, following a scandal involving a Chinese supplier that allegedly used expired meat. The company's problems stretch back further: McDonald's Japan is expected to report a sixth consecutive year of declining sales and its first loss in 11 years.