NEW YORK — McDonald's reported a dip in profits on Tuesday as the protracted Middle East conflict weighed on results, and the chain's chief executive officer apologized for a food safety scare.The fast-food giant, which has contended in the last week with an E. coli outbreak in the western United States, saw a modest uptick in comparable sales in its home market but lower sales in other regions.The chain reported a third-quarter profit of $2.
McDonald's also said it encountered weakness in France and Britain.The chain's US operations has been in crisis mode following an E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburgers, mainly in the western United States.Restaurants in a dozen US states had temporarily pulled the burgers from their menus amid an outbreak that saw dozens of customers sent to the hospital and one person die.