Monday, February 14, 2005

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

McDonald's has agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle a lawsuit over artery-clogging trans fats in its cooking oils, the company.

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.

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.

"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."

Steve - "McDonald's continues to work hard to reduce trans fats in cooking oil." That means - it has not been done yet. Even though two years ago they came out with a huge ad campaign saying they were going to switch to healthy cooking oil.

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