Heheh!
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.
thats Tart Reform to make it meet the food nazi-guides of forced nanny state protecting instead of embracing individual responsabiliy and say to the lard butt "Lay the Super Sized Jumbo Meal down and back away from the table."
Encroach? Several years back when my job required me to travel I couldn't find the center seat because of a Super size in the window seat and a Super size in the aisle seat. Tray as she may the stewardess couldn't get either of them to tuck in enough to enable her to find the seat she knew was there.
After 10 minutes of trying she gave up and moved me to First Class as an Airline Comp.
What happened to corporate conscience, someone in the boardroom with enough guts to say "Bring it on." These cowards have made it so easy for the parasites to feed on them that they invite these abuses.
At least Tobacco fought back.
"Maybe Mad Ted Kennedy started this. Maybe he is blaming Big Mac for his Big FAT!"
We all know it's too much Ben&Jerry's in the handy 20 gallon container with a free shovel in every one.
That's just it....all we need to know is we can eat anything and everything.... in moderation.... and to get active. It's up to us to close the mouth and move.
Has anyone seen the "Silky Pony" lately?
Yes, they fought back, but it was a win-win situation for them.
They knew it wasn't going to cost them anything, and it hasn't. The cost of cigarettes doubled and tripled to make up the loss. The smokers paid for the lawsuit, not the tobacco companies.
Watch the price of the Big Mac go up, and they have the perfect cop-out. All the other fast food places will have to follow suit. Expect to pay a buck more for the Number Two Combo.
Control costs money, and, again, the consumers will bear the burden.
And that's it in a nutshell!
I buy these microwave breakfast meals, and sometimes, it really turns my stomach to think about eating another one.
Hopefully they will die when their bodies wear out in their nineties and not like a guy in his thirties who thought he was doing everything right by watching his weight and exercising.
Heheh!
Lol...
It went the way of the Edsel...........at least in the minds of these do-gooder nannyists---the phrase is not in their lexicon and they are doing their best to irradicate it from the entire English language.
With all due respect, Shooter, I disagree.
It has to do with the prevailing need of people in this country for someone to take care of them and some lawyer recognizing that need.
This lawyer doesn't give a rat's a** if you consume forty pounds of transfats a day. He's looking at the mega bucks from the lawsuit.
I, for one, don't need his help. I can read and decide what's good for me and what's not.
From that point, it's up to me.
I'm beginning to miss the days when the Mafia ran everything.
I didn't mention the lawsuit. I mentioned I was happy the food industry is recognising the dangers of trans-fats. I'm also trying to educate Freepers so they know the dangers.
It's in restaurant food. It's in that freshly prepared goody at the bakery. It's in canned and packaged foods at the grocery store.
The only way to avoid it is to buy vegetables, fruits and meat at the grocery store and prepare it all yourself.
Trans-fat is a hidden danger in foods that doesn't have to be there in the first place. If you're comfortable using a magnifying glass so you can read the fine print in order to feed yourself, it's a free country.
Sorry, I'm not kidding about the magnifying glass.
Actually, me too. Times were more peaceful then. Except for the ones on the inside getting whacked. LOL!
But you are right. The Mafia kept things running fairly good for us, come to think about it.
wow.... who'd a guessed? lol..
a woman MUST have a right to abortion because giving birth MAY kill her.. (ignore a childs right to life, liberty etc)
you must have a permit and/or waiting period and/or background check etc to own a gun (depending on state) because a gun MAY kill someone.
we must allow LE to use drug sniffing dogs to search our vehicles without a warrent because drugs MAY kill someone.
we must wear seat belts because otherwise we MAY die in a car wreck.
we must not have a privately owned business where we chose to allow our customers to legally smoke because second hand smoke MAY kill.
and now .... private owned business will not be allowed to sell unhealthy food to fat people - or risk a lawsuit because it MAY kill the customer.
wow. if our Founders could see us now. personal liberty and responsibilty gone out the window..
nanny laws are wrong, because there is NO end to them. i keep reminded people of the UN's agenda to get rid of small arms world wide because they did a study showing some people commit suicide using a firearm. all these non-conservatives who agree with these nanny laws are enemies to the constitution. and that's a fact.
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