MCDONALD’S STINK

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FLAVOUR OF BEEF BEGETS MCDONALD'S STINK OF DUNG

 

FROM OUR BUREAU

 

New Delhi & Calcutta, May 4:

Whiff of beef in McDonald's French fries in faraway America had

Bharatiya Janata Party activists stamping their hooves in Mumbai.

What better weapon to fight beef with than cow dung. That's what a

group of about 15 protesters did at a McDonald's, splattering cow

dung on a hoarding and the door .

 

McDonald's India, just settling down into good business in a new

market, was bleating in protestations. There's no animal extract in

the French fries it serves in its fast-food outlets, the company

said, a day after an Indian slapped a suit on McDonald's Corp in the

US, accusing it of "secretly" lacing its French fries with beef fat.

 

The BJP's Mumbai president, Vinod Tawde, who led today's agitation,

said tonight McDonald's officials would meet him tomorrow morning

to "clarify their position".

 

Tawde said the BJP would intensify its protest if the global fast-

food chain failed to come up with a "satisfactory"

explanation. "Let's see what they have to say, but we are not going

to let them go so easily," he said.

 

The BJP leader said the franchise used the same recipe worldwide. "If

they lace so-called vegetarian fries with beef in the US, they must

be using the same stuff here too."

 

Tawde said the party had no objection if the company sold foodstuff

containing beef, but it should make it known to its customers. "But,

as of now, they don't. This is what we are objecting to."

 

McDonald's India has categorically said French fries served in India

do not contain any beef or animal extracts.

 

In a statement, the company said: "We reiterate that right from the

processing stage until it is cooked and served to the customer, we

only use 100 per cent vegetable oil in India."

 

The company response came after reports appeared today of the lawsuit

filed by Seattle-based attorney Harish Bharti who has accused

McDonald's of "misleading vegetarians".

 

The controversy could have an adverse impact on McDonald's Indian

operations most of whose numerous Hindu patrons would strictly avoid

eating anything that may have beef content. Even the hamburger

McDonald's serves in India is not made of beef, as it is elsewhere,

and the company had taken pains to explain while it entered the

country that it were so.

 

McDonald's serves about 30 lakh customers and has an average turnover

of about Rs 15 crore a month across its 27 restaurants.

 

Bharti has cited an e-mail from McDonald's that discloses its

suppliers use tiny amounts of beef flavouring. He said the CEO of the

company himself had publicly promised in the early 1990s that its

fries would be cooked in vegetable oil following a controversy.