LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp, under pressure from resurgent U.S. rivals, is cutting its Fruit & Walnut Salad and Chicken Selects from U.S. menus and weighing whether to keep its "premium" Angus burgers, a spokeswoman said on Friday.
The menu shake-up comes at a time when hamburger chains such as Burger King Worldwide Inc and Wendy's Co have been closing the gap with McDonald's.
"As always, we are constantly evolving our menu and listening to our customers to meet their changing needs," spokeswoman Danya Proud said in a statement.
The world's biggest hamburger chain for years held a huge lead against most competitors, but some of those chains now are luring away diners with fast-changing menus featuring tempting new food.
Burger King and Wendy's recently mimicked McDonald's by adding coffee drinks, smoothies and salads. Then, they used their smaller size to their advantage by introducing a barrage of limited-time and seasonal menus.
Because of its massive size, McDonald's has to test new food items rigorously. Smaller chains can simply pull food flops and move on.
McDonald's October global restaurant sales fell for the first time in nine years. The company recently warned that it expects sales and profit growth to be under pressure as diners spend cautiously due to a lackluster economic performance in most of its major markets.
McDonald's shares were down 0.2 percent in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein; Editing by Dale Hudson)
