SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, May 4, 2001: McDonald’s french fries have slipped from the frying pan into the fire with the company’s admission that the one billion pounds of fries served yearly in the USA are flavored with beef. Several articles have appeared today on the issue, including the one at “source.” Hindus and vegetarians here in Seattle have filed a class action lawsuit against the company. McDonalds announced in 1990 that it was switching from using beef tallow to fry the fries to vegetable oil. Vegetarians assumed this meant the fries were safe for consumption. But now comes the revelation from their US head office that small amounts of beef are used in the fries, in order to replicate the flavor previously achieved by frying in beef tallow. The India branches of McDonalds have been inundated with inquiries, and the Mumbai branch trashed by Hindu activists. However, McDonalds in India maintains no beef is used to flavor their fries, although the prepackage fries cartons say, “Made in New Zealand.”
A daily summary of world news for Hindus and non-Hindus alike