McDonald’s, the most popular fast food restaurant chain in the world, agreed to pay $700,000 to members of the Muslim community in Michigan. They accused the company of false advertising, claiming that products sold are not prepared in accordance with the Islamic laws, according to ABC News.
McDonald’s and Finley’s Management Co., one of the owners of the franchise, have accepted Friday the agreement, which states that the money will be split between Ahmed Ahmed (who made the complaint), a health clinic in Detroit, National Arab Museum in the U.S. and lawyers. Ahmed Ahmed’s representative said his client is pleased with the preliminary agreement that will most likely be concluded on March 1.
Ahmed’s allegations came after he bought in September 2011 a chicken sandwich from McDonald’s. He later learned that the burger was not prepared according to Islamic law, which involve, besides other, invoking God’s name before the slaughter of an animal that will be used to prepare food for a consumer.
Kassem Dakhlallah, Ahmed’s lawyer, said that in America there are only two McDonald’s restaurants that sell “halal” products, which are prepared according to Islamic rules. Both are located in Dearborn, the place of the largest community of Arabs and Muslims in the United States.
The place where Ahmed bought the sandwich advertised the fact that Chicken McNuggets and McChicken where the only “halal” products. After their own investigation Ahmed and his lawyer discovered that this was not at all true and decided to send a letter to the fast-food chain. Because they received no response, they sued the company.
Finley’s Management representatives later said that McDonald’s “has a carefully designed system for preparing and serving halal such that halal chicken products are labeled, stored, refrigerated, and cooked in halal-only areas.” Daklallah said: “McDonald’s from the very beginning stepped up and took this case very seriously. They made it clear they wanted to resolve this. They got ahead of the problem.”
The lawsuit should compensate all those who have bought products advertised as “halal” at the two restaurants in Dearborn, between September 2005 and January 18, 2013, but, as it was difficult to identify all consumers, it was agreed that the money be donated to charities in the community. Of the $700,000 win in court, Ahmed will only get $20,000.
In 2002, McDonald’s has agreed to pay $10 million to Hindu communities in the U.S. after it was found that the oil used to prepare the french fries, advertised as vegetarian, contained traces of beef, added to improve the taste.
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