Russian consumer rights group sues McDonald's

PanARMENIAN.Net - The “Public Control” consumer rights group said in a statement on Monday, Jan 16, it has sued McDonald's, Russia’s most popular fast food chain, for concealing information about its products.

RIA Novosti reports that the group conducted an independent examination of several McDonald's products, which revealed that the fast food chain failed to provide all the necessary information on its product packaging.

Some of the product packaging lacked obligatory information concerning contents, weight and other important parameters.

"In addition, experts found a large amount of vegetable fat in 'milkshakes,'” Public Control said in a statement. “The share of vegetable fat and milk fat surrogates amounts to at least 90 percent of all fat. In fact, the consumer is misinformed, because such drinks, according to the technical regulations, can not be classified as 'milkshakes.'”

The organization said McDonald's was “making double profit from its particularly privileged position,” after a Moscow arbitration court allowed it to pay value-added tax at the 10-percent rate paid by food store chains.

“Under Russian legislation, a food store (which in this case is also the manufacturer) is obliged to present on the packaging reliable information concerning ingredients (including food additives, biologically active ingredients and genetically modified products), nutrition facts, conditions, storage terms, production technologies, weight (volume), dates of production and packing and counter-indications for people with specific health problems,” the statement reads. McDonald's management was not immediately available for a comment.

First McDonald's outlet in Russia opened in Moscow on January 31, 1990, and served 30,000 during the first day of operations, setting a world record. At the moment, there are about 310 McDonald's outlets in Russia, serving about 950,000 visitors daily.