KFC is ready to deprive the bottled-water exporting island nation of Fiji of the Colonel's secret recipe. The BBC notes today that the fast-food giant has decided to suspend all operations in the Pacific island because the government has been blocking imports of the milk, eggs, and breading salt the company needs to make its Original Recipe chicken. "The missing ingredients led to a decline in product quality, coupled with rising food costs, contributed to decreasing sales," KFC said in a statement. But Fiji is fighting back. The country's own colonel--Mason Smith--says authorities are merely asking the multinational chain --in the interest of public health--for a certificate proving that the ingredients are disease free, adding that only two cartons of eggs and milk have been delayed.

Another Fiji official, Elvis Silvestrini, suggested KFC was scapegoating Fiji when it truly only had itself and tough economic times to blame. "KFC are a global fast-food chain with a very slick public relations machine, but at a local level I think their message is becoming a little confused," he explained. According to The Fiji Times, KFC first arrived in Fiji ten years ago and employs around 80 part-time and full-time staff in three restaurants, all of whom could lose their jobs.

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Uri Friedman