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.
Lawyers should have to have clown faces tatooed on before they can begin their practice. That way no one will take them too seriously.
On behalf of all of us, I want to thank you for being willing to "take one for the team" and perform that particular taste test comparison. You are far, far braver than I. ;-)
I agree with you. I don't believe in suing but the food industry really doesn't care what they use as "food" ingredients as long as it is cheap. If people understood that the process to make partially hydrogenated oils is the same process that is used to make plastic then they would think twice about eating the crap.
Corporate cowardice.
You and me both.....and beside tasting better, and being better for you.....it's CHEAPER!!!!!
just lovely...before too long when you order something at a fast food joint the cashier will be required to tell you, "ma'am, you are aware that the choice you made can be very very bad for your health, right? Yes? Ok, I'm going to need you to sign this disclaimer..."
What a treat for diabetics! Eating one of those was just like being a kid again.
BTW, to a non-diabetic these are the ones that taste kind of like cardboard I'm sure. So don't eat them!
You get most of that sugar from the starch you consume. One source of starch is the potato, and just one is going to hurt you more than all the trans-fat you might consume in a week.
A Snickers bar is safer.
Protein may also be converted to sugar as needed by the body. Fortunately the body disposes of any protein consumed in excess of 40% of your caloric intake. That makes the hamburger you get with the French fries relatively safe compared to the bun that wraps it.
Best bet at the fast food joints is to stick to the meat and salads, and until the national chains figure out how to remove both the starch and the transfats in the French fries, just avoid them!
You will take flack, but I agree with you. The problem with transfat is that there is little way that you know you are eating it. Labels do not always identify it. It can be "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" or buried in with the other fats.
If you want to avoid them, there is no way if you eat out, since there is no disclosure on a menu. Transfat are bad news. I shifted long ago to butter from margarine, most of which are transfat.
Again, throw away the potatoes, throw away the buns, dump the milkshake, and eat the burgers, with double cheese, in the knowledge that you are getting about as safe a meal at a fast food restaurant as is possible.
I agree the dumping of most transfats is a good idea.
I just don't like seeing it being done by "activists" and trial lawyers just out to line their pockets with multi-million dollar settlements and lawsuits.
If you look deep enough at these suits against fast-food you will find many of the same names as the lawyers who first started attacking the tobacco industry.
John Banzhaf is among them, and has claimed on national television that they are using the same tactics agasint fast-food as they perfected against the tobacco industry. his first case against them was thrown out, but so were the first ones against tobacco.......they will keep suing until they get capitulation from the industry, ala tobacco, or they find a sympathetic (read activist) judge.
No, no, no......., it's the devour the "super size" menu!
Not the defeat of the "super size" menu!
Everyone,
Say goodbye to Twinkies and EVERY snack other than organically grown fruits and veggies.
None of this is about health; it's about controlling the lives of every American, and about lining the pockets of every lawyer who can zero in on a method of facilitating that control.
Good grief, people! What happened to personal responsibility?
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