Kentucky Fried Chicken (YUM) is leaving paradise in a dustup over its chicken coating. The fast-food giant has shut down its fryers for good in Fiji, saying the government compromised its so-called famous blend of 11 herbs and spices by stopping KFC from importing the necessary seasonings, milk and eggs. Fiji clucked that KFC is flying the coop because business is bad, and that only two cartons of eggs and milk were delayed because KFC had not provided documentation.

Col. Mason Smith, the agricultural secretary for the military government, said in a BBC story that all KFC had to produce was one veterinary certificate, and that it was using public-relations tactics to gloss over its operational failure. KFC insisted the embargo has been in place since late last year, and that it was being strong-armed into revealing its secret finger-lickin'-good recipe to free up the shipments again, The New Zealand Herald reported.

KFC did admit that it was impossible to make a profit at the South Pacific nation's three outlets, but blamed the import obstacles and rising food prices. KFC Hawaii spokesman Rob Deveraturda said in the Herald that Fiji was the only territory to stop the company from importing its ingredients.

According to its website, KFC sells more than a billion chicken dinners a year in 80 countries. Uh, make that 79.