Lawsuit claims McDonald's deceives customers with McRib
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The popular McRib sandwich that pops up periodically on McDonald's menu is at the center of a new federal class action lawsuit filed in Illinois.
Why it matters: The global fast food giant continues to lean into "value and affordability" as inflation worries grow, but customers feeling misled could put both of those selling points at risk.
Driving the news: The lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Illinois last month accuses McDonald's of deceiving customers about the contents of the McRib, which the accusers allege is actually a rib-shaped patty covered in barbecue sauce and does not contain any pork rib meat.
- The plaintiffs allege that the meat instead comprises "lower-grade pork products such as, inter alia, pork shoulder, heart, tripe, and scalded stomach."
The other side: "This lawsuit distorts the facts and the claims are meritless," McDonald's said in a statement to Axios Monday.
- "Food quality and safety are at the heart of everything we do – that's why we're committed to using real, quality ingredients across our entire menu," the statement added.
- "Our fan-favorite McRib sandwich is made with 100% pork sourced from farmers and suppliers across the U.S. — there are no hearts, tripe or scalded stomach used in the McRib patty as falsely alleged in this lawsuit. We've always been transparent about our ingredients so guests can make the right choice for them."
Context: Pork rib is a higher quality, leaner, more expensive cut of meat, the suit says, so including "rib" in the name of the sandwich is a "deliberate sleight of hand." Shaping the patty into what resembles a rack of ribs deepens the deception, the lawsuit claims.
- McDonald's website does not detail what cuts of meat are in the McRib, describing it as "seasoned boneless pork dipped in a tangy BBQ sauce."
Zoom in: The complainants are from California, Washington, D.C., New York and Illinois, and each says they were lured into purchasing the McRib under the assumption the patty was actually pork rib, and had they known it wasn't, would not have purchased it.
State of play: McDonald's plays into the McRib's almost cult-like status by only featuring the sandwich for a limited time at certain locations.
- Its most recent release was in November, but only in select cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Miami and Seattle.
- "It is our most-mentioned limited-time product online, higher than other evergreen items," Guillaume Huim, McDonald's senior marketing director, posted on X about the McRib's popularity.
Flashback: Burger King faces lawsuit over size of the Whopper
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a more current statement from McDonald's.
