McDonald’s to Provide Source of Natural Flavorings in Food

McDonald’s Corp. said Monday that it will begin providing the specific source--dairy, meat or vegetable--of the natural flavorings in some menu items, to address customer requests and complaints.

The information will be available on the company’s Web site and in pamphlets in its restaurants.

This year, vegetarians in Seattle and Houston filed separate lawsuits against McDonald’s accusing it of using beef flavoring in French fries despite promises that it would use vegetable oil. News reports on the case also outraged some Hindus in India, who smashed windows at McDonald’s franchises in protest. The company has apologized for any confusion.

Mike Gordan, a McDonald’s spokesman, declined to comment on the litigation but said the lawsuits and general questions from the public had “heightened the company’s awareness.”

The company had used state and federal guidelines for labeling, a system that does not specifically describe the nature of a “natural flavor.”

“Some of our customers have told us that current state and federal labeling standards do not give them as much information as they want to answer their dietary questions,” said Ken Koziol of McDonald’s in a statement. “If our customers want more information about natural flavors to help them make informed choices, then we want to help them.”

The new policy pertains to the permanent menu and not promotional or seasonal items, officials said.