TOKYO - Already reeling from a butter shortage, Japan is being buffeted by another food crisis: McDonald's is running out of french fries and will start rationing the crispy delicacy.

There will be no super-sizing here. Starting Wednesday, customers will be able to buy only small servings of fries with their orders, which in Japan include crab-croquette burgers and gurakoro, a pattie made of shrimp and macaroni and cheese.

Do you want... um, something other than fries with that? Credit:AFP

The reason for the shortage? Labor disputes at US West Coast ports are holding up shipments. As a result, only 55 per cent of the monthly average volume of french fries is likely to be imported to Japan in December, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported.

An announcement in red letters on the fast-food chain's Japanese Web site alerts customers to the difficulty of procuring stable supplies of french fries.