Customers Have Beef With McDonald's
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In response to customer requests and complaints, McDonald's says it will let consumers know the specific source -- whether dairy, meat or vegetables -- of what it calls natural flavors in some menu items. The move comes after vegetarians filed lawsuits accusing McDonald's of using beef flavoring to make its french fries, despite promises that it would use vegetable oil. Joining us now by phone with more is John Stauber. He's with the Center for Media and Democracy. Hi, John.</s>JOHN STAUBER, CTR. FOR MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY: Hi, Kyra. How are you?</s>PHILLIPS: I'm doing very well. Thanks for being with us.</s>STAUBER: All right. Now, at first, these french fries were made in a beef tallow?</s>STAUBER: Tallow. Basically, beef fat.</s>PHILLIPS: OK, explain to me the difference.</s>STAUBER: Well, you know, those french fries that I ate as a kid were fried in beef fat. And about a decade ago under pressure from consumer groups, McDonald's said they were switching over to vegetable oil. What they failed to say was that they were also continuing to use some beef flavoring. And when vegetarians and people with religious opposition to consuming beef, such as millions of Hindus, discovered that the french fries were eating still contained beef products, they were absolutely outraged. Lawsuits were filed in India. Some McDonald's were actually smashed up. So this initiative by McDonald's is, as you point out, really not an initiative. They're responding to lawsuits and consumer outrage at their failure to provide important labeling information.</s>PHILLIPS: Now, what's in beef flavoring? There's actually beef in the beef flavoring?</s>STAUBER: That's right. And what they're saying is that the law doesn't require them to provide a lot of information, other than saying that something is a natural ingredient. So whether it's a vegetable ingredient or a beef ingredient, it's natural. So what they're claiming is that they're going to go the extra step. But from the consumer standpoint, this whole PR crisis for McDonald's reveals the fundamental company hypocrisy, which is that they're not revealing, here in the United States, which foods they're using that are genetically engineered, while in Europe, McDonald's has banned genetically-engineered foods from their product line.</s>PHILLIPS: Real quickly, John, before we let you go, does this mean that other fast food restaurants could be doing the same thing, and does this mean there might be some more hidden facts that we just don't know about what we're eating?</s>STAUBER: I think what this means is that fast food giants like McDonald's will only do what consumers demand, and sometimes you have to file lawsuits to really get their attention.</s>PHILLIPS: John Stauber, thanks so much for being with us. He's with the Center for Media and Democracy. And we did try to get in touch with McDonald's and they declined to give us an interview. John, thanks so much. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com