A US judge has named 24 groups to divide a $10-million settlement from McDonald’s over beef-laced french fries, resolving a dispute over which organisations would share in the awards.
The ruling on Monday by Circuit Judge Richard Siebel followed months of legal wrangling since McDonald’s agreed to the settlement last year.
The settlement was intended to make amends to customers who unwittingly ate the fries cooked in beef-flavored oil during the 1990s, when the burger chain had said it used only pure vegetable oil. Lawsuits filed in Illinois, California, New Jersey, Texas and Washington charged the restaurant chain with deceiving people who don’t eat meat for personal or religious reasons.
McDonald’s offered 60% of the settlement to vegetarian groups, 20% to Hindu and Sikh groups, 10% to children’s nutrition and hunger-relief efforts and 10% to
promoting understanding of Kosher practices.
But some vegetarian groups protested recipients chosen by McDonald’s and other plaintiffs’ lawyers, saying some were anti-vegetarian or otherwise inappropriate.
Siebel last month rejected three of the 26 proposed groups because attorneys in the case had family members or other personal involvement. On Monday, he added the Hillel Jewish campus organisation to the list of participants and said the group would receive $300 000.
McDonald’s attorney Peter Hecker said all the groups on the company’s settlement list are responsible and intend to educate the public about vegetarianism. – Sapa-AP