Fast food chain McDonald’s says global same store sales decreased 3.7 per cent in August.

The steepest fall was in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA), where comparable sales dropped 14.5 per cent, largely due to the recent supplier food safety scare in China, which has significantly impacted results in China and Japan especially.

“As we continue to assess the impact of the supplier issue in China, we estimate this issue will negatively impact third quarter results by about $0.15 – $0.20 per share in comparison to prior year results,” says the company in a statement.

US comparable sales also decreased 2.8 per cent amid continuing broad-based challenges, including sluggish industry growth in a highly competitive marketplace.

And Europe’s comparable sales decreased 0.7 per cent reflecting positive performance in the UK, more than offset by weak performance in Russia.

McDonald’s president and CEO Don Thompson said they’re diligently working to effectively navigate the current market conditions to regain momentum.