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McDonald's close to settling lawsuits
in french fries case

Som Chivukula in New York

Harish Bharti is finally content. For the past one year he has been consumed passionately, representing millions of people who have eaten french fries from McDonald's which allegedly contained beef flavouring.

The Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald's is reportedly close to settling lawsuits filed by plaintiffs in several states who accused the company of concealing this fact.

The settlement offer calls for McDonald's to pay $10 million to charities that support vegetarian causes, issue a public apology and form an advisory board that conveys issues related to vegetarianism to the company.

"With the apology, they have finally admitted to the wrongdoing," said the Seattle-based attorney who filed the first lawsuit. "I would not have talked about the money they are giving but the admission is the most important issue."

Bharti, of course, shot to prominence last May when he wanted McDonald's Corporation to dispense hundreds of millions of dollars, claiming that the company tainted the fries with beef flavour offending millions of vegetarians, especially the Hindus.

"Since I filed the lawsuit, I have not had one day of convenience...a lot of work has been put into this," Bharti said. "What kept me going was a great cause."

In 1990, McDonald's fries began to be cooked in 100 per cent vegetable oil instead of a mixture of tallow and vegetable shortening. The change was made to please diet conscious customers who feared high cholesterol.

The firm, however, did not disclose the ingredients in the fries. Nutrition brochures do not list "beef flavour" as an ingredient. But there is a "natural flavour", which contains a small amount of tallow. Despite the use of vegetable oil, McDonald's never claimed that the fries were a vegetarian product.

Several Hindus from Texas, New Jersey, California and Illinois also filed separate lawsuits last June claiming to be victims.

Under the new settlement, 12 plaintiffs from Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, California and Washington will receive $4,000 each. The $10 million will be distributed among vegetarian organisations, Hindu or Sikh groups, children's hunger relief and an organisation that supports kosher diets.

"I am very proud with their disclosure, but the money is not enough," Bharti noted. "They made billions in profits over the last 12 years."

He said a court would decide the amount that all the lawyers involved in the case must get.

"Even if they paid me $100 million and no apology, I wouldn't want to go that route," he said. "No one is going to remember the $10 million some years down the road. Even if I get nothing, to be honest, I won't be disappointed since the apology sticks," Bharti said.

The apology will be published in several papers including Veggie Life and Hinduism Today.

"We regret that we did not provide these customers with complete information, and we sincerely apologize for any hardship that these miscommunications have caused among Hindus, vegetarians and others," the company said. "We should have done a better job in these areas, and we're committed to doing a better job in the future."

As a result of the settlement, the corporation has also agreed to expand its ingredient listing in the foods, available on its Web site.

ALSO SEE:
'I have been violated for over a decade'

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