On the 5th of June 2002, CBS News confirmed:
- McDonald’s Corp. has agreed to donate $10 million to Hindu and other groups to settle lawsuits filed against the chain for mislabeling french fries and hash browns as vegetarian
- McDonald’s also posted an apology on its Web site, acknowledging that mistakes were made in communicating to customers and the public about the ingredients in the fries and hash browns. The vegetable oil used to prepare the fries and hash browns was not pure, but contained essence of beef for flavoring purposes. Many Hindus consider cows sacred and do not eat beef
- “We regret 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 in an apology posted June 1 on the Web site. “We should have done a better job in these areas, and we’re committed to doing a better job in the future.”
- Under the agreement, the 11 named plaintiffs will each receive $4,000, according to Bharti. The public can comment on the agreement until July 8, and Siebel is scheduled to make his final ruling on Aug. 22.”The apology and disclosure was most important for the clients and the class,” Bharti said. “My hope is when all other fast food chains see what McDonald’s has done, they will have to follow suit. I want to start a chain reaction of disclosure.”https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mcdonalds-settles-beef-over-fries/
CNN confirmed this fact:
- McDonald’s Corp. said it would pay $10 million to Hindu, vegetarian and other groups more than a year after a Seattle lawyer sued the fast-food chain, alleging it failed to disclose the use of beef flavoring in its French fries
https://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/06/05/us.mcdonalds.hindus/
The Food XP states:
- The fries from McDonald’s in the United States are not Halal. They contain an ingredient called natural beef flavoring, which is not Halal. Hence at least in the United States, the fries don’t qualify as halal.
The Mcdonald’s website answers the question,
“Do you add any type of flavor when preparing your Fries?”
“Yes. When our suppliers partially fry our cut potatoes, they use an oil blend that contains beef flavoring. This ensures the great-tasting and recognizable flavor we all love from our World Famous Fries®. The Fries are cooked in our kitchens, seasoned with salt, and served hot to you”
https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/faq/snacks-and-sides.html
Surprisingly SANHA had also released a statement regarding this in a 2013 Flash News:
“Why are chips called French fries and we are told some of them could be Haraam? How is this possible
Ramifications on Halaal & Precautions
About one third of potato crops are used to make frozen fries, 80% of which goes to the food services sector and 20% to retail. You will find a proliferation of brands on supermarket shelves including many from abroad. To replicate the taste notes of best French fries the industry incorporates elements of the processes described above.
The use of beef tallow and lard in fries or related products processed in plants is not uncommon. In 2002 McDonalds paid out $10million to Hindu and vegetarian groups after apologising for failing to make it clear that it used beef flavouring in its French fries and hash browns. The company which has served more than 200 billion portions of French fries around the world, maintained for more than a decade that only vegetable oil was used, confessed to a method of using beef fat to partly fry chips before they were sent to restaurants. They were then frozen and refried on the premises using vegetable oil.
Why have a chip on your shoulder – when in doubt, leave it out
http://www.sanha.org.za/flashnews/2013/flashn72.htm
The Muslim Judicial Council faces enormous pressure due to the Apartheid Israeli boycott theme but what about all the years they ate, allows others to eat and excrete haraam?
All of a sudden “nothing is found at this location”:
A boycott had to drive them to hide their blatant years of promoting Haraam? Where was the fear of Allah Ta’alaa? Do they think they would can just walk away smoothly with all the Haraam money they ate and fed others with?
If there are Hindu’s who could honour their code of vegetarian, you as Muslim’s who gifted the best still look for excuses to consume this Haraam saying, “it’s just fries!”
Senior Mufti’s of South Africa have been saying it is Haraam for years but we needed a boycott to be concerned of Halaal or Haraam? Is not the fear of Allah Ta’alaa sufficient to stay away from Haraam? Hindu’s can sue but Muslim’s who supposed to have vision certify and consume proudly?
After that we can focus on the importance of the boycott! But we have lost our value for Imaan. “Everything goes” has become our motive!
It had to take this for this Ummah to stay away from Haraam:
“McDonald’s Israel wrote, “Update that already yesterday we donated 4000 meals to hospitals and military units, we intend to donate thousands of meals every day to soldiers in the field and in drafting areas, and this is beyond a discount to soldiers coming to restaurants. We opened 5 restaurants that were open only for this purpose,”
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/israel-palestine-war-mcdonalds-comes-under-fire-for-giving-free-meals-to-israeli-
