Class Action Suit Showcases Beef With McDonald's

A federal judge ruled Friday that McDonald’s must face parts of a proposed class action alleging that the company misled customers about the meat in its McRib sandwich.

U.S. District Judge April Perry allowed consumer deception, fraud, and unjust enrichment claims to proceed while dismissing five other claims without prejudice. The ruling does not determine that McDonald’s engaged in deceptive advertising.

Filed by four consumers in December, the lawsuit alleges that the McRib’s name, appearance, and marketing suggest it contains rib meat, although the patty contains no actual rib meat. Surveys cited in the case found that 72% of respondents expected the sandwich to contain rib meat, while 67% said rib meat was important or very important to their purchase.

The plaintiffs allege that the patty contains pork shoulder, heart, tripe, and stomach. McDonald’s denies the claims, saying the sandwich contains 100% pork sourced from US farmers and suppliers and does not include heart, tripe, or scalded stomach.

Perry also rejected McDonald’s argument that its trademarked name protects it from deceptive-marketing claims, noting that products such as the McChicken and Egg McMuffin have names describing their ingredients.