McDonald's Donates $10 million to Settle Suits Filed By Vegetarian Groups

Chicago, IL—June 5, 2002—According to Associated Press reports, McDonald's Corp. will donate $10 million to Hindu and other vegetarian groups and post an apology on its company Web site in an effort to settle lawsuits filed last year stemming from the mislabeling of its French fries and hash browns.

The company's written apology is expected to acknowledge that McDonald's failed to clearly communicate to its customers that the vegetable oil used in cooking its fries and hash browns contained beef flavoring.

"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."