Emporia Wendy’s won’t sell hamburgers due to national shortage

EMPORIA, Kan. (KSNT) – Wendy’s in Emporia has stopped selling hamburgers Wednesday, saying they are out of ground beef due to a national shortage.

Around 1,000 of the 5,500 Wendy’s chain restaurants around the country are stopping the sale of hamburgers and other beef-based items. The company said some items might be “temporarily limited at some restaurants in this current environment.”

Kansas agriculture officials said the shortage is due to several meat processing plants that had hundreds of employees test positive for coronavirus. It’s also affecting local grocery stores’ ability to sell meat products.

“With, at least in Kansas, plants at less capacity and some plants in other states have actually been shut down, so there will be maybe a little bit of a lull in availability,” said Mike Beam, secretary of the Department of Agriculture.