McDonald's gets fleeced by California

[portisizzle]

On page 183 of the May 2005 edition of the Reder's Digest I found a most illuminating legal notice. Here is the notice....

Attention McDonald's Customers

McDonald's has searched for ways to reduce trans fatty acids in our foods cooked with oil. On September 3, 2002, we announced a voluntary initiative to reduce TFA's by using a new cooking oil. When we were delayed in changing to the new cooking oil, we announced that delay on February, 2003.

Since then, we have changed the cooking process for Chicken McNuggets and McChicken and Crispy Chicken sandwiches, which reduce TFA's in those items. To avoid any confusion, McDonald's announces again that the cooking oil for its French Fries, hash browns, and Filet-O-Fish has not yet been changed. We continue to work on the initiative to reduce TFA's in our foods cooked with oil.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING LEGAL NOTICE

The Superior Court of the State of California, County of Martin has preliminarily approved a settlement of twolawsuits against McDonald's. The law suits relate to TFA levels in McDonald's foods cooked with oil. The claims those suits relate to: 1) the effectiveness of McDonald's communication about the status of its TFA initiative; 2) McDonalds public statements about this initiative; 3) the implementation or delay of this initiative; and 4) TFA levels in McDonald's foods cooked with oil.

The lawsuits allege a violation of every state's consumer protection laws and fraud, breach of contract, negligence, breach of warranty, strict product liability, and battery. McDonald's has agreed to settle these lawsuits, but continue to deny vigorously that it violated any law.

What are the Principal terms of the Settlement?
In exchange for a broad release of the Claims, McDonald's has agreed to: 1)donate $7 million to the American Heart Association.... 2)spend at least $1.5 million notifying McDonald's customers about the delay in changing the cooking oil: 3) pay legal fees, costs and expenses of Plaintiff's counsel in an amount not to exceed $2 million
__________________________________________________ _



If this thread gets some traction, I will continue the legal notice that includes legal rights of a Class Member, how to exclude yourself from the class action, object to the settlement, and etc.


I am curious as to your opinions about this issue.

[stevenaa]

My opinion is if people don't want to eat unhealthy food, then they should not eat it. If McDonalds food is unhealthy, and I decide to eat it, it is my responsibility, not McDonalds. Just another example of people deferring responsibility for their poor decisions.

[Heidenreich]

I love McDonald's

That being said, I know it's AWFUL for me. Because of that, I don't eat it every day, I don't eat it every week. Just looking at the greasy box when I'm done with a double quarter pounder, you know what you just did to yourself......

There's no need for class action lawsuits. And it's dopes like these people that make it so I can't get super sized fries anymore.

[bearrock]

Let's see....

Company who is known to make unhealthy food advertises that they changed their process to make their food less unhealthy.

Company says a year later, actually we never carried out that promised change, but we will.

Company implements the promised change for some of their food, but not for others, including one of their major sellers (fries).

State says the company should be forced to advertise the accurate state of their initiative and be punished for past practice.


Sounds like the state did a good thing. McD should not be allowed to advertise that their food is healthier than it used to be unless it is actually true. I have no problem with that principle.

[Ancalagon the Black]

Shockingly rational reply, bearrock.

I'm not party to the intricacies of the case, so I don't know if they were guilty or not. But at least read up on it a bit before making knee-jerk reactions.

http://www.ap-foodtechnology.com/news/news-ng.asp?n=53479-mcdonalds-in-court

[chomerics]

I agree with AtB and bearrock, good for Cali.

BTW, watch "Supersize Me", the documentary where a normal guy ate McDonalds foor for 30 days straight and tell me there is not something wrong with their food.

[Ignatius J.]

Suing mcdonalds for being fat is stupid.

Suing mcdonalds because they failed to implement an initiative they said they advertised is the responsibility of every consumer.

[chomerics]

Originally posted by Ignatius J.
Suing mcdonalds for being fat is stupid.

Suing mcdonalds because they failed to implement an initiative they said they advertised is the responsibility of every consumer.

Exactly :cheers:

[MaddogCT]

Super Size Me is a joke.
http://www.techcentralstation.com/supersizecon.html

:logo:

[chomerics]

Originally posted by MaddogCT
Super Size Me is a joke.
http://www.techcentralstation.com/supersizecon.html

:logo:

Gee what a suprise. . . a conservative site is pro business :rolleyes:

Actually, this is a real bad site, because it tries to be a legitimate site, but the bias in in all of their articles.

[Thiebear]

Originally posted by chomerics


Gee what a suprise. . . a conservative site is pro business :rolleyes:

Actually, this is a real bad site, because it tries to be a legitimate site, but the bias in in all of their articles.

No mention of the stats though? Supersize me was an attempt to basically die. If your going to eat there EVERYDAY everymeal the least you can do is attempt to get the McSalad ;) ...

[Prosperity]

Originally posted by Ignatius J.
Suing mcdonalds for being fat is stupid.

Suing mcdonalds because they failed to implement an initiative they said they advertised is the responsibility of every consumer.


Agreed, companies can't advertise and imply they their food are healthier when in fact they are the same.

[chomerics]

Originally posted by Thiebear


No mention of the stats though? Supersize me was an attempt to basically die. If your going to eat there EVERYDAY everymeal the least you can do is attempt to get the McSalad ;) ...

If I remember correctly, he DID eat a McSalad a few times, the only problem is that the McSalad is just as bad :laugh:

1/4 lb. hamburger 430 calories 21g fat

Chef Salad w/Ranch Dressing 330 calories 26g fat

[RonJeremy]

Originally posted by bearrock
Let's see....

Company who is known to make unhealthy food advertises that they changed their process to make their food less unhealthy.

Company says a year later, actually we never carried out that promised change, but we will.

Company implements the promised change for some of their food, but not for others, including one of their major sellers (fries).

State says the company should be forced to advertise the accurate state of their initiative and be punished for past practice.


Sounds like the state did a good thing. McD should not be allowed to advertise that their food is healthier than it used to be unless it is actually true. I have no problem with that principle.

This sums up my position.

On a side note, there is a McDonalds right next to where I work. Some of my co-workers eat there regularly. They have apparently been under the false assumption they changed the oil for everything over there due to information presented by this McDonalds. I printed out the first part of this thread about the settlement and posted it in the break room. THEY ARE PISSED!! They seriously thought ALL of the oil had been changed. One of them is going to talk to the manager at lunchtime...:)

[Thiebear]

and then get a happy meal..

[bpoch]

I agree with the false advertising aspect of the lawsuit.

But c'mon, it's still FRIED FOOD no matter how healthy the oil is. To think eating at McDonalds is a "healthy" food choice is just ignorant.

[js161]

you have to be an idiot to think your eating health if you go to McDonalds.

[Predicto]

No question that fried food sucks for you.

But transfats (partially hydrogenated oils) are way worse than just bad for you. They are close to poison.

McD deserves what it gets here.

[portisizzle]

Originally posted by RonJeremy


This sums up my position.

On a side note, there is a McDonalds right next to where I work. Some of my co-workers eat there regularly. They have apparently been under the false assumption they changed the oil for everything over there due to information presented by this McDonalds. I printed out the first part of this thread about the settlement and posted it in the break room. THEY ARE PISSED!! They seriously thought ALL of the oil had been changed. One of them is going to talk to the manager at lunchtime...:)

I will be curious as to the response..

[dfitzo53]

Originally posted by chomerics
I agree with AtB and bearrock, good for Cali.

BTW, watch "Supersize Me", the documentary where a normal guy ate McDonalds foor for 30 days straight and tell me there is not something wrong with their food.

Even if there is something wrong with the food, nobody made anyone eat it. If you had to see Super Size Me to know there's something wrong with the food from McDonalds, you've been living in a cave for 30 years.

That said, misleading the public about the nutrition of said food is not cool.

[RonJeremy]

Originally posted by portisizzle


I will be curious as to the response..

They said the Manager did a lot of stuttering, uhmm, etc. and took their name and number so the Regional Manager could contact them. Typical passing of the buck... :)

Stay Tuned!

[portisizzle]

Wow...

[Darth Tater]

In this case, it seems that McDonalds might have violated their contract with their customers. Further, such actions as breach of contract can only be solved through intrusive regulations with all their inherit loopholes or through the court system that often decides things not upon the merits of the case but who gets the best lawyers.

[jrfriedm]

Makes me hungry for Mcdonalds

[Ancalagon the Black]

Originally posted by bpoch
I agree with the false advertising aspect of the lawsuit.

But c'mon, it's still FRIED FOOD no matter how healthy the oil is. To think eating at McDonalds is a "healthy" food choice is just ignorant.



Originally posted by js161
you have to be an idiot to think your eating health if you go to McDonalds.


I don't think many people are so deluded as to think it's "healthy." But trans-fatty acids can do major damage to people who are susceptible to high cholesterol and liver problems--much worse than what your regular ol' saturated fats do. Eliminating those would be a big step, and telling people that you eliminated them without doing so would be a major no-no.

[MaddogCT]

Originally posted by chomerics


Gee what a suprise. . . a conservative site is pro business :rolleyes:

Actually, this is a real bad site, because it tries to be a legitimate site, but the bias in in all of their articles.

Conservative site or no, the movie is a fraud on its face.
The man gorged himself and then did nothing.....no walking or exercising..nothing...he could have gorged himself on tofu and cauliflower and still have gained the weight. But there is no money in that..so he took a shot at McDonalds. He made a ton of money and got a lot of press trying to make fact from fiction.
The production company is called "The Con" for crying out loud.

Any nutritionist will tell you diet alone will not make you healthy or loose weight. You have to exercise.

:cheers:


:logo: