McDonald's to Pay $8.5 Million in Trans Fat Lawsuit

[eepobee]

Fri Feb 11, 2005 08:33 PM ET
By Adam Tanner

SAN FRANCISCO (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.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=EZZZ1TZTM555MCRBAELCFEY?type=healthNews&storyID=7608917

[Duparc]

Light a candle indeed! Undoubtedly, there will be other companies running scared of this successful litigation. I wonder if this will herald the beginning of a return to natural saturated fats and a recognition of their health promoting benefits.

[littlejohn]

Well I'm torn.

On the one hand this is a rediculous law suit. Any company has the right to sell what ever is legal. So long as they let us know what is in it, we have no legal complaint. The idea that McD can be sued and forced to pay the AHA 8.5 million is scary to me. That should absolutely never happen! McDonalds has been sued way to may times.

On the other hand, this is a good result for health. The chance that I will pick something up at the grocery store that is low carb but full of trans-fats just went down. That is clearly good.

[Nancy LC]

Horray! This isn't ridiculous at all. The best, fastest and easiest way to make corporations sit up and do the right thing is by hitting them in the wallet. And this will incite others to follow suit. Otherwise they would've dragged their heels for years.

And most people have utterly no clue what a transfat is or that McDonalds cooks with them. There is little media coverage and most people spend more time thinking about their motor oil than they do their nutrition and health.

[Lisa N]

On the one hand this is a rediculous law suit. Any company has the right to sell what ever is legal. So long as they let us know what is in it, we have no legal complaint. The idea that McD can be sued and forced to pay the AHA 8.5 million is scary to me. That should absolutely never happen! McDonalds has been sued way to may times.

littljohn, a little history behind this suit. A few years ago (I believe 2002?), McDonald's announced with great media fanfare that it would be removing the transfats from all their products. However, when they encountered problems with finding a suitable substitute for the oils that they had been using, it was not widely announced that the changes had not been made yet. Hence, the lawsuit now.
Based on that, I don't think the lawsuit is ridiculous at all. The fact that the majority of the settlement is going to the AHA makes me roll my eyes a little (well...okay...a lot!) but I see it as tantamount to an admission that they realize the transfats in their products hurt heart health and so the largest portion of the settlement is going to the single largest entity dedicated to improving heart health, as misguided as the majority of us low carbers believe them to be. ;)

[Wyvrn]

The fact that the majority of the settlement is going to the AHA makes me roll my eyes a little (well...okay...a lot!) but I see it as tantamount to an admission that they realize the transfats in their products hurt heart health and so the largest portion of the settlement is going to the single largest entity dedicated to improving heart health, as misguided as the majority of us low carbers believe them to be. ;)

That was my first thought as well. Since the American Heart Association (along with the American Diabetes Association) is essentially a tax deductable PR machine for the pharmaceutical industry, that 7 mil could be considered a compensation to Big Pharma for the some of the revenue they will lose when McD's switches to a less unhealthy oil.

Wyv

[doreen T]

A tax exemption. Yep, that's exactly what I was thinking. The portion spent on "informing the public" about its plans to reduce trans fats will be considered "public education" and that too will rate a tax write-off.

8.5 million is barely a tickle to McD's. They sell more than that per hour in Big Macs alone.

When they actually live up to their promise to eliminate trans fats (and not just keeping us informed of where they're at in regards to reducing t/f's), then I might be impressed.

:yawn:


Doreen

[Dodger]

The problem with eliminating trans-fats in frys is that they were not originally used for the fries. It was only after they were lambasted by the major 'health' groups for using lard, that they switched to the allegedly healthier trans-fats. If they switched back to lard they would have the traditional taste and no trans-fats, but the same clueless groups would scream again.

No matter what grease/oil they use, I won't eat them because they contain lots of potatoes and they are fried!