KFC branches in Australia have started using cabbage in burgers and wraps to make up for lettuce shortages, a report says

A KFC restaurant in Melbourne, Australia.

WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images.

• KFC Australia has started using a mix of cabbage and lettuce in its burgers and wraps, per the BBC.
• The fast-food giant cited shortages of lettuce caused by flooding across Australia this year.
• Australia's food supply has also been affected by global supply chain and COVID-19 related issues.

KFC has started using a mix of lettuce and cabbage in its burgers and wraps in Australia as it faces shortages of lettuce caused by extreme flooding, BBC News reported.

The fast-food giant said on Monday that flooding across New South Wales and Queensland meant they had to substitute the traditional lettuce filling with a combination of cabbage and lettuce due to ongoing shortages, per BBC News.

KFC Australia did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal working hours.

Torrential rain and flooding engulfed parts of eastern Australia earlier this year, forcing residents out of their homes and destroying crops. 

The blow to crop production threatens to worsen Australia's food supply, which has also been hit by ongoing supply chain constraints caused by the pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine, and extreme weather hampering food supplies across the world.

Earlier this year, McDonald's locations in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan were also forced to ration french fries as the fast-food giant faced potato shortages, partly due to flooding and landslides in Canada, Insider's Mary Meisenzahl previously reported.

In January, KFC Australia also had to compromise its menu as a result of chicken shortages after Australia's largest supplier faced pandemic-related staff shortages, per the BBC.

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine threatens to worsen the global food supply as blockades have affected the distribution of grains. The head of Ukraine's biggest food producer, MHP, said the food crisis could become catastrophic, Insider's Urooba Jamal previously reported. 

The climate crisis was already causing harm to crop production through droughts and storms, the head of MHP recently told Insider, adding that the conflict is what "broke the camel's back." 

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