McDonald's is to pay nearly £7m to Hindu and vegetarian groups after they brought lawsuits claiming that it mislabelled french fries and hash browns as vegetarian.
The lawsuits were launched in the United States after it was revealed that the vegetable oil used to prepare the fries and hash browns contained essence of beef for flavouring purposes.
McDonald's has now posted an apology on its website, saying: "We regret we did not provide these customers with complete information, and we sincerely apologise for any hardship that these miscommunications have caused among Hindus, vegetarians and others."
McDonald's says it has created a dietary practice/vegetarian advisory panel, consisting of experts in consumer dietary practices, that will advise the company on dietary restrictions and guidelines.
The lawsuits were filed on behalf of any vegetarian who ate McDonald's fries after 1990, the year the company announced its restaurants would no longer use beef fat to cook fries and that only pure vegetable oil would be used.
McDonald's said it never claimed the fries it sold in the United States were vegetarian, but it apologised for any confusion surrounding the use of beef flavouring in the production of fries.
The lawsuits were launched in the United States after it was revealed that the vegetable oil used to prepare the fries and hash browns contained essence of beef for flavouring purposes.
McDonald's has now posted an apology on its website, saying: "We regret we did not provide these customers with complete information, and we sincerely apologise for any hardship that these miscommunications have caused among Hindus, vegetarians and others."
McDonald's says it has created a dietary practice/vegetarian advisory panel, consisting of experts in consumer dietary practices, that will advise the company on dietary restrictions and guidelines.
The lawsuits were filed on behalf of any vegetarian who ate McDonald's fries after 1990, the year the company announced its restaurants would no longer use beef fat to cook fries and that only pure vegetable oil would be used.
McDonald's said it never claimed the fries it sold in the United States were vegetarian, but it apologised for any confusion surrounding the use of beef flavouring in the production of fries.
