Posted on 02/12/2005 5:54:15 AM PST by SheLion
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 11 (Reuters) - McDonald's has agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle a lawsuit over artery-clogging trans fats in its cooking oils, the company said on Friday.
McDonald's said it will donate $7 million to the American Heart Association and spend another $1.5 million to inform the public of its trans fat plans.
The settlement is the result of litigation from a San Francisco area activist who has been seeking to raise public awareness of the health dangers from the trans fatty acids (TFAs) in hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.
Trans fats are used in thousands of processed food products, often giving the crunch to French fries, cookies, and cereals.
They are created in processing vegetable oils and have been found to be as unhealthy as pure cholesterol. The latest official U.S. nutrition recommendations suggest limiting their intake.
"McDonald's has reached an agreement to further notify our customers about the status of our ongoing initiative to reduce TFAs in our cooking oil," the company said in a statement.
Stephen Joseph, a lawyer who founded BanTransFats.com, sued McDonald's over complaints the firm did not properly inform the public that it had encountered delays in plans to lessen the trans fats in its cooking oils.
Joseph said his site would receive $7,500, as would another plaintiff in the case.
"McDonald's has been successful in reducing TFA levels in our Chicken McNuggets, Crispy Chicken Sandwich and McChicken Sandwich," the fast food firm said. "McDonald's continues to work hard on our initiative to reduce TFAs in our cooking oil."
British-born Joseph first gained publicity for his cause by suing Kraft Foods two years ago to highlight the trans fat content of much-beloved Oreo cookies. The company has since moved to remove trans fats from its snack foods.
"While there is a difference of opinion regarding whether McDonald's gave effective notice to its customers that the oil was not changed, McDonald's deserves recognition and credit for having achieved a reduction in the trans fat levels in its chicken products and for working diligently over the last two years to test additional cooking oils," Joseph said in a statement.
Dunkin' Donuts, a unit of Britain's Allied Domecq Plc , and other companies have in recent months introduced new products free of trans fats.
I agree that trans-fats in food is a bad thing, and this is not pseudo-science. There are better cooking oils one can use instead that are not loaded with trans-fats. What I don't like are the activists who use the threat of lawsuits as their first weapon. If activists want to inform the public, people should be able to decide what is a legitimate concern from what is bogus. Instead, even legitimate issues get compromised because of trial lawyers and activists who have an anti-corporate axe to grind.
I don't have anything against the obese or smokers either but we are obliged to take on some of their medical expenses in the end because of their choices.So I would say their activities are forced upon us. It's either grin and bear it or encourage the food industry to police themselves.
LOL!
Me, either!
The funny thing is that I never stopped eating butter and eggs when they came to be considered a killer.
Six months from now the AMA will publish a "study" which confirms what they suspected five years ago - butter is bad, margarine is good.
I don't put any stock in medical studies.
I'm 65; I feel good; I eat what I want to eat; I smoke a pack of cigarettes a day.
I take care of me, and I expect the rest of the world to do the same.
11. Cottonseed oil is described by scientists as being "naturally hydrogenated" because of the levels of oleic, palmitic, and stearic acids which it contains. These make it a stable frying oil without the need for additional processing or the formation of trans fatty acids.
1. heart
2. vena cava
3. aortic artery
Perhaps not just appeasement from McDonald's.
If the lawsuits hurt its competitors more than it does McDonald's, then McDonald's wins.
Many republicans will support going after the bad food companies - after a few years and it becomes normal. Then it will assume sacred status, like Social Security.
That won't take the pressure off smokers, though. Our health czars will have criminalized all smoking outside of homes without children.
Their higher health costs impact everyone, since we have massive government involvement in health care.
The more government grows, the more reason for it to grow some more.
Personal responsibility? Ha! It just slays me that it hasn't occurred to anyone that McD's might not be healthy unless you opt for a salad and the yogurt parfait. DUH. And "ban trans fats.org"???? OY. Our society is upside down and backwards.
ping
You make me want to cry. Don't you realize that everyone is responsible for everyone?
We're all together on this life raft called America. Let's care more about one another. Please?
"All these are trans fats. If all of us really started reading the labels like we should, we would realize more than 3/4 of fast foods and convenience foods have these trans fats in them."
Exactly!!! I am about to wean this family off of most processed foods because of the trans fats and added sugar. But that is a choice we are making....certainly not calling for the BANNING of such foods. It's a choice like any other. McD's just has a big target on it because it's likely the most successful fast food chain.
They still do, but they diversified into lawsuits.
When I was working in the head office of one of the major french fry manufacturers in about 1993, I brought up the dangers of trans-fats. Not surprisingly, few were interested in pursuing the subject, although they did read the article I brought in. At least I didn't get fired.
Exactly right. If you don't want that kind of food, don't go there. You are also correct about the entitlement attitude.
You don't fly much, do you?
I went completely off of all trans fats and high fructose corn syrup in December and eat real foods and just do portion control and a balanced diet and the weight is literally melting. I have lost 60 pounds. I cook at home and have cut eating out for the most part.
That's exactly what it's about.
As for government involvement in health care, it does much more harm than good. Government must remove itself similar to getting out of social security.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.