2 Mich. McDonald's drop halal food after suit

AP via Yahoo! News ^ | 6/24/13 | Jeff Karoub

[Slings and Arrows]

DETROIT (AP) -- The only two McDonald's restaurants in the United States that were serving food prepared according to Islamic law have stopped several weeks after a $700,000 settlement over a lawsuit that alleged the items weren't consistently halal.

The fast-food giant said in a statement Monday that the locations in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, which has a large Muslim population, are no longer offering a halal McChicken sandwich or Chicken McNuggets in order "to focus on our national core menu."

The corporation added it takes into account "local and dietary preferences," and supports its franchisees in Dearborn. Neither the statement nor a spokeswoman said whether McDonald's decision was related to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, brought by customer Ahmed Ahmed in 2011, technically covered anyone who bought the halal-advertised products between September 2005 and January from the restaurant on Ford Road and another one in Dearborn with a different owner. The second location wasn't a defendant or a focus of the investigation.

[Slings and Arrows]

Unintended consequences are a real b*tch, eh Ahmed?

[gunsequalfreedom]

I’ve never understood this business about some types of food being religiously off limits.

If one of these religions was against eating liver I might understand.

[soycd]

Trying to placate muslim morons is futile. islamo goons would despise you if you cut your own head off for them.

[Vendome]

Oh beans!

[DoughtyOne]

As a concession, the two McDonald’s units should offer ham and cheese sandwiches.

[Netz]

Judaism, as the root for all 3 Monotheistic faiths forbids Jews to eat certain kinds of living creatures (like snails) and not to mix milk and meat at the same meal.

Islam built on that and added their own spins, like Halal food.

The Bible (”Tanach”) states that G-d forbids these foods as they are considered “unfit”, “unclean” or, in other words, not “Kosher” which means “fit” (to consume). It's all about G-d commandments.

Islam calls their dietary laws “Halal”.

Whatever the Jews did, the Muslims pushed it to the extreme.
For example, Jews are commanded to pray 3 times a day, the Muslims upped the ante to 5 times a day. Jews fast for one day on Yom Kippur. The Muslims fast for a friggin’ month during Ramadan. It's like taking extreme behavior and making it more severe.

Food is considered a way of the human restraining his/her animal instincts to devour what is on the plate immediately. Religions pull the reigns in and say whoaa, say a little prayer thanking G-d before you pop that bit of food into your gullet...

[Rodamala]

The $700k settlement, undoubtedly, has been channeled directly to al-quaeda... with a side of fries.

[Theoria]

In SE Asia[Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei] pretty much everything is halal. Makes since for the business.

[Some]Muslims will eat 'kosher' as a alternative if there isn't any halal food around.

[Stingray]

“Whatever the Jews did, the Muslims pushed it to the extreme.”

Except that Muslims (and Orthodox Jews) don’t follow the one Jewish example that makes all these other issues moot. Ironic, isn’t?

The Law of Moses was taken to extremes by those who “interpreted” it for the people: the Chief Priests, Scribes, Lawyers, and Pharisees, who were more about power and control than religion or truth. Jesus Christ, in part, came to show people the true intent of the Law. The fact that there are still people to this day who choose the example of the Pharisee over that of Christ simply illustrates the level of control some people want over others.

[SpaceBar]

McDonald’s first mistake was thinking they could make a few bucks by catering to un-American filth just looking for complaint/settlement deal. Their second was settling out of court. They figured it was cheaper in the short term, but opened the door to future harassment. Their lawyers should have given this creep a koran enema in a clown suit, and sent the message that their corporate reputation won’t be messed with.

[45semi]

I know how to prepare halal....simple!

Hooooocccchhh....patooie!

[BigCinBigD]

Any fool that allows superstitious nonsense to dictate what he can and can not eat, deserves to starve to death.

[count-your-change]

A group of lactose sensitive vampires in Detroit calling themselves The No Cud in the Blood Coalition demanded McDonalds stop serving milk products as attacks on customers was causing the vampires severe allergic reactions.
No word on the outcome of the vampires lawsuit.

[Netz]

Your analysis is pretty accurate. Christ's followers (all Jews) created Christianity and set out to do the exact same thing - power of interpretation, power of control and built the edifice of the Church.
There are Jews, Christians and Muslims who try to follow G-d’s way in humble, modest and simple way without deriding others but these simple folk get lost in the firebrand extremism though I would point out several major differences:
1) Judaism does not proselytize, does not actively seek out new followers and makes it difficult to convert to being a Jew, it is not recruiting and never has.
2) Christianity does proselytize, does seek out followers, does actively recruit.
3) Islam does proselytize and forcibly convert (by the sword) Infidels. It tries to spread Islam by the application of force.

These are big differences. If we could all live according to the original, basic premises, the world MIGHT be a little quieter.

[informavoracious]

But at the time, weren’t there good reasons for some dietary restrictions? I.e., pork products carrying trichinosis?

[Southern Magnolia]

Figs are apparently not to be eaten by Christians. Good excuse to pass on the Fig Newtons.

At least the Jewish one about pigs and shrimp kinda makes sense that they’re scavengers that eat human remains. Pigs were used to clean battlefields of dead bodies.

Those wacky ancient Egyptian were against eating catfish (the African variety that delivers an electrical shock) because they supposedly ate their sun god’s wiener.

[Bob]

Pretty nasty of those catfish to eat the guy’s wiener. Did they at least leave him the bun? :=)

[gunsequalfreedom]

By my way of thinking somebody misinterpreted advice as a dictate. I’m certainly no religious scholar but I find it quite funny that people get so worked up over what they eat for reasons other than what they don’t think tastes good or does not agree with them.

I’m happy to let anyone impose upon themselves whatever restrictions on diet they like, but getting back to the subject of this thread who told these people anything at McDonalds was good for them.

Further, if it is so important to them, why did they let down their god by only taking McDonald’s word over an issue they considered so important?

[gunsequalfreedom]

You said it exactly correct and with far fewer words than I did.

[Netz]

G-d did not command the Hebrews to avoid Pork because of Trichinosis, (maybe he knew ahead of time, the all-knowing One?). He commanded them apparently because spiritually, these things were “unclean”. He did not want His people eating unclean things and eating what the other nations ate. Another way of keeping the Hebrew separate from other nations.

Today, we justify a lot of Laws and Commandments from the Bible based on the fact that we know now that it is healthy and or unhealthy. Modern refrigeration and hygienics make it all seem so appropriate for our day and age but when these Laws were given they were given for spiritual purposes, not because they're “green”, Biodegradable” or antioxidants.

There may be some truth today that mixing milk with meat is not healthy and may even cause cancer, who knows? The Hebrews were not into bio-fitness, organic, free-range poultry, vitamin-enriched foods - they ate or they were supposed to eat what G-d told them to eat. Even Manna from heaven was supposed to supply them with all the nourishment they needed and if they hoarded or stored it (which they were told NOT to do) was inedible the next day.

These Laws are Commandments for Jews not for everyone. The fact that people seem to trust Kosher hot dogs or other foods as maybe being more pure and clean is a benefit to those that consume it but due to the fact that it needs to be supervised by Rabbis, it can be costly.