Tokyo, Japan—June 10, 2002— The Japanese press reported on Saturday that for the eighth month in a row, sales at McDonald's Japan have fallen. Same stores sales were down by 19.9 percent as compared to last year, and overall sales dropped 16.1 percent.

A fourth confirmed incident of mad cow disease in May may have driven customers away from world's largest burger chain, say those close to the situation. Customer served also declined, by 18.4 percent.