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McDonald's Israel hit with class action over sodium By Nurit Roth Tags: McDonald's, Israel McDonald Israel franchisers, Alonyal, is being sued for NIS 100 million in a class action motion that alleged an attempt to mislead eaters about sodium in the food. The salty food poses a health hazard, says plaintiff Yoram Peri, in elevating the risk of heart attack. The petitioner, an industrial engineer, says McDonald's is presenting its offerings as "health products," even though this is "very far from the reality," as he states in his suit. McDonald's stopped reporting the sodium content of its foods in 2005, and in any case, the sodium levels marked on the packaging were often misleading and incorrect, the suit states. Nutritional labeling that did appear was not presented in customary nutritional terms, in order to persuade the public to buy products while purposefully hiding their true nutritional value. Advertisement As an example, Peri cited the chain's ketchup packets, which contain no information about sodium content. Other nutrition information required by law, such as the calorie count, protein and fat, are based on 10 grams of the product, instead of 100 grams, as is required by law. Peri is seeking damages of NIS 3,000 per customer. The suit estimates 244,000 customers were affected. McDonald's responded that as a pioneer in nutritional labeling, the chain has published brochures listing information collected in independent laboratory analyses, even though it is not required to do so. "Unfortunately, the sodium results were incorrect," it said. "It should be kept in mind that this (corrected) information is less than 15% of the daily recommended amount, and that there is no health risk involved in the correctly labeled amount of sodium. In fact, this is a reasonable and desirable amount," the fast food giant said. The company said it has corrected its labeling, nutritional brochures and Web site in response to Peri's threat of legal action, and called the current claim a bid to obtain money in an out-of-court settlement. "It should also be noted that any customer who is sensitive to sodium can ask for fries or salad without salt or sauce (which contains salt). The company has no vested interest in manipulating or hiding any information from its customers," it said. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Carter's contacts Report: Ex-U.S. president Carter to meet with Hamas leader in Syria. Warning shouts Officer: Palestinians warned Israelis of terrorist infiltration.   1.   Send Kolbotek to check it out.... 12:29  |  B 08/04/08   2.   Wanna die young (and wealthy)....???? 12:37  |  Swiss (Dino) 08/04/08   3.   Every schoolboy knows this stuff is bad - so don`t eat it. 14:23  |  Philip 08/04/08   4.   No Surprises Here 14:25  |  Bill Foonman 08/04/08   5.   NOBODY IS BEING FORCED FED AT MC DONALDS 15:03  |  * BEN JABO 08/04/08   6.   #5 That would be worse than waterboarding 15:28  |  Chanalau, Tova 08/04/08   7.   Mc Donalds 15:43  |  Millicent 08/04/08   8.   who the heck consumes 100g of ketchup anyway? 15:46  |  Susan 08/04/08   9.   This is Idiotic - If You Don`t Like it Don`t Eat There! 15:53  |  MIKE 08/04/08   10.   All required informations are given on 10 grams 17:19  |  Karl 08/04/08   11.   #6 Chanalau, Tova -- The treat is on me 19:54  |  * BEN JABO 08/04/08   12.   Israel please don`t become America! 23:04  |  Nunya 08/04/08   13.   What this has to do with sexuality.? 05:57  |  Yaakov Sullivan 09/04/08

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