McDonald's will pay $8.5 million to settle a lawsuit over the artery-clogging trans fats in its cooking oils. $7 million will go to the American Heart Association and the other $1.5 million will be used for a public education campaign.
The settlement ends a lawsuit brought by Stephen Joseph, a San Francisco activist and activist who has been trying to raise public awareness of the health dangers from the trans fatty acids (TFAs) in hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.
Joseph's suit alleged that McDonald's did not properly inform the public that it had encountered delays in plans to reduce the trans fats in its cooking oils.
"McDonalds deserves recognition and credit for having achieved a reduction in the trans fat levels in its chicken products and for working diligently over the last two years to test additional cooking oils," Joseph said in a statement. "Hopefully, McDonalds will be successful soon in replacing its cooking oil with a trans fat-free alternative."
Joseph will receive $7,500, which he said would go to his Web site, BanTransFats.com. Joseph sued Kraft Foods two years ago to highlight the trans fat content of the company's Oreo cookies. Kraft has since moved to remove trans fats from its snack foods.
Trans fats are used in thousands of processed food products, often giving the crunch to French fries, cookies, and cereals.
Trans fats are created during partial hydrogenation, an industrial process that changes the molecular configuration and properties of oils used for baking and frying and other purposes.
"Trans fat is by far the most dangerous type of fat. We need to eliminate partially hydrogenated oils from our food supply as soon as possible," Joseph said.
