McDonald's Sued Over Its French Fries

[Pan]

The suit, filed in federal court on behalf of a California woman, says McDonald's has not disclosed "to the public in an effective manner that it had not switched to a new, healthier cooking oil."

[Editorial remark] [/editorial remark]

Read the rest here.

[jschyun]

Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's pledged in September 2002 to switch to a lower-fat oil by February, 2003.

What, may I ask, is a lower-fat oil? Is this an oxymoron or what?

[Pan]

"Moron" is right.

They seem to be talking about non-hydrogenated oil.

[tommy]

McDonalds continues to not ensure the health of their customers.

[Pickles]

They used to use beef fat. And man...I bet the fries tasted good. There was a case just a few years ago with some Hindu people suing and McD's. McD's said they used beef extract when they fry the fries, but not beef tallow. I would think if you're strict vegetarian, that may be a problem. I don't remember the outcome of the suit. Anyone?

[smgarsh]

I really miss the fries fried with beef fat/tallow or whatever. It's just not the same.

[TheFuzzy]

People:

I continue to find it astonishing that people can't seem to grasp the concept that a cooked meal which costs less than $5 is unlikely to be healthy, and I certainly hope that this gets thrown out of court as soon as the MSJs are due.

[StudentChefEclipse]

re: The McFood lawsuit by the vegetarians. McDs lost this case to the tune of $10-15M. The point was, they had consistently presented their fries as being safe for vegetarians, largely by not informing the staff that a beef byproduct was used to produce them. Then, of course, the staff couldn't pass this on to customers.

This is particularly egregious when considering the number of people who practice vegetarianism as part of the their religious faith (ie, Hindus.)

Frankly... I think if you are going to eat french-fried/frankengrown/mass-produced-overprocessed/fastfood anything, you are not doing your body a favor.

Just one woman's opinion.

[TheFoodTutor]

This is particularly egregious when considering the number of people who practice vegetarianism as part of the their religious faith (ie, Hindus.)

Pardon me for asking, and I know someone will probably get angry with me, but if it's important to your religious beliefs that you practice strict vegetarianism, why would you eat at McDonald's?

[Mabelline]

The fries at McD's are not what they had formally been, when McD conquered the world one burger at a time. But Hell, if you eat deep-fried anything, you are not talking healthy anyway. These unending law suits make me disgusted.

What if that same woman uses a non-dairy creamer many times a day? That's just as injurious...if not more so.

[gingerly]

read,discuss,chew-then decide if you want to swallow.

don't sue me egullet

[cakewalk]

This is particularly egregious when considering the number of people who practice vegetarianism as part of the their religious faith (ie, Hindus.)

Pardon me for asking, and I know someone will probably get angry with me, but if it's important to your religious beliefs that you practice strict vegetarianism, why would you eat at McDonald's?

Well no one's angry, but a lot of vegetarians didn't just go "eat at MacDonald's." They ate only specific things at MacDonald's, because they were told that those things were suitable for vegetarians. But what they were told was not true.

[Mabelline]

WAIT...the post gingerly put up is a wholly different story from the leader on this thread. Putting beef products in fries and not allowing the public to know about and decide their preferrence is unnatural and very sleazy, to say the least.

That changed my view on the deal, and yes, I can and will change horses in the middle of the stream.

[Pan]

I agree with you, Mabelline. Using beef fat in "vegetarian" products is definitely "sue-worthy."

[chefdg]

I read this post after I read the atkins post and I have to say that I am a little upset. When are people going to start taking responsibility for their actions? Why do people insist on putting so many unhealthy things in their bodies and then cutting out some of the things that has sustained humans for ever? If I go to McD's and order a 1/4#er with cheese, fries, and a coke, I see the fries go into the fat, the burger come off the assembly line, and the coke come from the despenser and I never once think "this is going to be really good for me", or "this is going to fit right into my diet-lifestyle". No, I think "give it to me, I am hungry and need something fast and tasty". And in the back of my mind I know that it is not good for me, nobody has had to tell me that, and I am no friggin genius. I'm pretty disgusted!

Edited July 15, 2004 by chefdg (log)

[Mabelline]

That's certainly a truth as unvarnished as they come. But what we are "chewing the fat" over---sorry about that, I couldn't resist--is the fact that McDs has been representing potato products as vegetarian safe, while knowing full well that they contain beef flavorings. That is beyond contempt because it demonstrates that someone, somewhere has no understanding of fundimental dietary or religious dietary restrictions. Fie on that.

[mags]

That's certainly a truth as unvarnished as they come. But what we are "chewing the fat" over---sorry about that, I couldn't resist--is the fact that McDs has been representing potato products as vegetarian safe, while knowing full well that they contain beef flavorings. That is beyond contempt because it demonstrates that someone, somewhere has no understanding of fundimental dietary or religious dietary restrictions. Fie on that.

I don't think it matters whether people are choosing to avoid beef products because of religious or moral beliefs or because they made a bet with their fraternity brothers that they could avoid beef products for 30 days. A corporation is obligated, it seems to me, to tell its customers the truth about its products. Doing anything else is fraud.

[Mabelline]

mags, I totally agree with you that there is no place for this bullcrap in this day and time, but at the same time I am very sensitive to the restrictions of a religious nature, for surely, that qualifies as crossing the corporate Rubicon in desensitivation. There can be no excuse to "What they don't know won't hurt them," whomever they are.

[tommy]

i don't think this particular suit had to do with the fries being "vegetarian safe". at least i didn't get that from the article. from what i read, mcdonald's made a promise and didn't pull through in what some people thought was a reasonable time. so now, they pay. god bless america.

Edited July 15, 2004 by tommy (log)

[TheFoodTutor]

I read the article about the vegetarian lawsuit, and I'd have to say that I think the claim that McDonald's represented their fries as "vegetarian safe" is somewhat dubious, although some employees of McDonald's mistakenly represented them as such. It is a lucky thing for the vegetarian groups who received the money that McDonald's chose to settle, rather than suffer the bad publicity in court.

When I was in high school, I had a number of friends who worked part time jobs at McDonald's. Since this chain routinely employs teens at very low wages, I can say with a certain degree of certainty that there are many "inconsistencies" in food preparation. For instance, every person I know who's worked at a McDonald's has flipped a burger onto the floor, accidentally, and not wanting to throw it out, flipped it right back up on the grill. I'm fairly certain there is someone reading this board right now who has eaten a McDonald's burger that was on the floor at some point during preparation.

Knowing this, I assume that a restaurant that can't even keep burgers off the floor probably also cannot assure that their fryers remain vegetarian. Kids do unpredictable things all the time, and I'm sure there have been many incidents of frying a chicken sandwich in the french fry fryer, or even dropping a burger in there, which would contaminate the oil with the equivalent amount of animal product to the amount of "natural flavoring" added to the fries.

I just can't imagine a strict vegetarian walking into a McDonald's in this country and thinking they can pay $1 for a super-size fry with an assurance that the product is animal product free.

[cakewalk]

You seem to be saying that it's the consumer's fault for believing what the producer says about his product, and the producer has no responsibility to tell the truth. The consumer somehow deserves to be penalized for his gullibility. That just doesn't sit right with me.

[tommy]

You seem to be saying that it's the consumer's fault for believing what the producer says about his product, and the producer has no responsibility to tell the truth. The consumer somehow deserves to be penalized for his gullibility. That just doesn't sit right with me.

even if mcdonalds makes sure that there is no beef product in their oil, it still seems ridiculous, as a strict vegetarian, with religious beliefs or not, to eat food from mcdonalds. if it's so important, i wouldn't put too much faith into their process, as there is a margin of error involved.

i think that's the point of most of this. but not of the article, apparently.

Edited July 15, 2004 by tommy (log)

[TheFoodTutor]

You seem to be saying that it's the consumer's fault for believing what the producer says about his product, and the producer has no responsibility to tell the truth. The consumer somehow deserves to be penalized for his gullibility. That just doesn't sit right with me.

My impression of what the producer said about its product is that their french fries are fried in "100% vegetable oil" and I believe that statement is true, or at least that's what they fill their fryers with.

The assumption that the fryers used for french fries would never be contaminated with meat products, or that the "natural flavors" contained in the french fries are vegetarian was done on the part of the consumer.

Edited July 15, 2004 by TheFoodTutor (log)

[mags]

You seem to be saying that it's the consumer's fault for believing what the producer says about his product, and the producer has no responsibility to tell the truth. The consumer somehow deserves to be penalized for his gullibility. That just doesn't sit right with me.

My impression of what the producer said about its product is that their french fries are fried in "100% vegetable oil" and I believe that statement is true, or at least that's what they fill their fryers with.

The assumption that the fryers used for french fries would never be contaminated with meat products, or that the "natural flavors" contained in the french fries are vegetarian was done on the part of the consumer.

I think this amounts to an egregious degree of hair-splitting. French fries are fried potatoes. A recipe for french fries -- outside the fast-food industry -- will typically involve two ingredients: potatoes and fat. Potatoes are vegetarian. If one is then told that the fat is also vegetarian, one has every right to assume that the finished product is, in fact, vegetarian. The fact that McDonald's "seasons" their fries with meat-flavoring is not something the average vegetarian should be expected to assume, any more than he/she would assume that the ice cream or green salad with vinaigrette included meat products.

At what price-point, Tutor, are vegetarians permitted to believe that potatoes fried in "100% vegetable oil" are, in fact, vegetarian? Do restaurants charging less than, say, $10 a meal get a free pass on effectively lying to their customers, but more expensive restaurants are expected to tell the truth? This seems like a totally bizarre argument.

[jschyun]

Oh my God, mags just said what I was going to say, but better.

Also, we are talking about 2 different lawsuits here. The first, initiated by Harish Bharti in 2001 was about the beef flavoring not being listed as part of what McD's says is the "natural flavoring" in this product. A part of that lawsuit revolved around the fact that McD employees would tell vegetarians that there was no animal products in the fries, and even pointed to the fries and hash browns as vegetarian friendly. If McD's had just come out and said yes there is beef flavoring in the fries, and not had a policy of outright lying and misinformation, there would have been no lawsuit.

--edit

the company knowingly lied

finally they admit it

This current lawsuit, as I understand it, is about McD's failure to reduce trans fat levels in their cooking oil. I personally think it is frivolous.

I don't understand the comments made by some that suggest that vegetarians shouldn't be eating junk food. If you're eating a healthy diet, a little junk food is fine. Also, since everyone else in America seems to eat at McDonalds, it helps to fit in. I think these comments are unnecessarily harsh and reflect an inability to walk in someone else's shoes.

--edit wrote wrong year

Edited July 15, 2004 by jschyun (log)