Posted on 05/22/2005 4:20:10 PM PDT by Libloather
McDonald’s pays $10m damages
Silicon Valley (PTI): Fast food giant McDonald’s will pay $10 million to 24 groups, including the International American Gita Society, as part of a settlement of lawsuits.
McDonald’s has been charged with misleading Hindus and vegetarian consumers by “wrongly describing” its French fries, containing beef additive for flavouring, as vegetarian.
McDonald’s recently informed the Gita society that it is among the groups receiving the settlement money, the US-based non-profit organisation’s spokesperson, Ramananda Prasad, said.
“We are such a small organisation, and nobody supports us, the temples are busy with their own activities,” Prasad, who founded the society in 1984, said.
The society will get $50,000 from McDonald’s. The money will be used for developing a website on the Gita, especially a “Gita for children”, Prasad said.
A US court approved the 24 groups after a Seattle lawyer, Harish Bharti, filed a class lawsuit against the company, accusing it of deception in its claims of cooking fries in 100 per cent vegetable oil.
The maximum compensation of $1.4 million, or 14 per cent of the award, goes to Vegetarian Resource Group, followed by $1 million to the North American Vegetarian Society.
Hey, can I sue McD for not being kosher? I mean, every fast food joint in Israel (Burger King, KFC, even the Sbarro's that got bombed) is kosher except for McD. And I've read that they always try to accommodate "local cuisine and customs."
I wonder whether any Orthodox Christian groups were beneficiaries of the settlement? Although our dietary restrictions are only intermittent (most Wednesdays and Fridays, plus four extended fast periods) during any of our fasts we avoid all products from vertebrates (hey, I don't make up the rules, I just try to follow them), so a beef extract is right out.
(And it wasn't contantamination from frying other foods in the same oil--the fries were actually sprayed with a beef extract which was why in the old days they tasted better than other fast-food fries and had the reputation of being the only thing worth buying at McD's. The idea was to simulate the flavor of real old-fashioned fries cooked in rendered animal fat while being able to claim them as cooked in polyunsaturated vegetable oil for the anti-cholesterol panache.)
You can if they run ads which strongly imply that some of their dishes are kosher when they aren't.
Just a reminder - 'vegetarian' is an old Indian word for 'poor hunter'...
Hindus living in the US is a bit silly when they complain that while coming to America, a beef eating nation, they get beef parts in their food. If they would stop thinking cows are their relatives, life for them would be simpler. In fact, they can stay in the East since they don't like they way we live.
Considering that this is a religious based suit, I am surprised the courts even accepted it. I wonder if a Christian suit would also be accepted.
Now, yes, but back in the day before Mickey D's caved you didn't eat the fries, you only sucked the grease off them.
I think that's true of ANY shoestring fries. I'll take those skin fries--or better yet, crinkle-cut!--anyday.
French fries suck these days.
It's not exactly gourmet dining, but they serve more than burgers and fries. For example, you can get this salad with Paul Newman's vinaigrette dressing (add 40 calories):
http://app.mcdonalds.com/bagamcmeal?process=item&itemID=10066
Their $1 double cheeseburger is actually pretty good. Better than most of the other sandwiches.
A quick bowel movement.
She's cool. :-)
A GIRL!?!
Oh, you know what, I think I confused Alouette with Allegra.
Sorry about that. I don't know for sure if Alouette is a girl or not. All I know is that he or she has a son in the IDF.
Sorry. I didn't have my entire thinking cap on!
For a truly great burger, try the Owl Cafe in San Antonio, NM, or Captain Jack's Stronghold in Tule Lake, Calif. The best burgers in Southern California can be found at Polly's Pies, located in Whittier, Yorba Linda, Fullerton, and a few other places.
In my 1.5 years working at a McDonald's, I never ,ever, ever saw a bigmac that looked anything near that good. 8P
Thanks. If I ever get west of the Mississippi again, I'll give 'em a try. In the meantime, I've got some great places here. I am just surprised that for a buck, Micky D has a decent double burger -- not an award winner, of course, but still decent.
Maybe I'm not understanding the article - aren't they being sued for claiming it was "vegetarian" back then when it really wasn't? Obviously if they never made that claim before then there'd be no grounds for a lawsuit. If MickyD's wants to claim something is vegetarian when it really isn't, that sounds like lying to me.
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