Russia taking McDonald’s to court, threatens countrywide shutdown

angelburst29

The Living Force
Russian President Putin has banned GMO's and is now going after the fast-food-chain McDonald's over their menu products. China also has it's problem's with McDonald's.

Safety of the entire McDonald’s fast food chain called into question by Russian health officials
_http://www.naturalnews.com/046191_McDonalds_Russia_food_safety.html##ixzz38gqCcl2L

The scary-looking clown named Ronald McDonald and his minions are going to court.

Russia, which has already denounced genetically modified food earlier this year, is now taking McDonald’s to court. A Moscow court recently announced that the fast food chain has violated Russia’s nutrition and safety codes for many of its burger and ice cream products.

The case is set to be heard at Tverskoi District Court. Russian health officials are already threatening to place a temporary ban on McDonald’s ice cream, milkshakes, cheeseburgers, and Filet-O-Fish and chicken sandwiches. A hearing is scheduled for August 13.

The Interfax news agency reported that Russia’s consumer protection agency has identified several product quality violations that have called into question the safety and integrity of the entire McDonald’s food chain. The McDonald’s products under question contain more fats and carbohydrates than are allowed by Russia’s health-conscious regulations.

Inspections at two McDonald’s restaurants in Novgorod found that caloric values of milk shakes, fish sandwiches and Royal Cheeseburgers (the Russian equivalent of Quarter Pounders) exceeded safety standards, harboring two to three times more calories per serving than legally allowed.

This means that the court could temporarily shut down all of McDonald’s operations in Russia. A spokesperson for the Tverskoi District Court, Yekaterina Korotova, didn’t comment on the matter but relayed that the consumer protection agency is demanding that the court “halt McDonald’s illegal activity.”

Will Russia push McDonald’s out of their country for good?

Big Mac bun is nothing close to real bread

While calorie, fat and carbohydrate levels of McDonald’s food measure through the roof, it’s what the food is made out of that should be most troubling to consumers.

For example, a Big Mac bun is not real bread but, instead, a mixture of bleached wheat, malted barley flour, thiamin mononitrate and fake vitamin enrichments. This enriched flour is mixed with the biotech industry’s usual flavor science of high-fructose corn syrup and soybean and canola oil. A couple of ammonia compounds like ammonium sulfate and ammonium chloride are added along with dangerous conditioners like azodicarbonamide, which is outlawed in some countries. McDonald’s also preserves its buns using sorbic acid, calcium propionate and sodium propionate, while conditioning the dough further by using ingredients like sodium stearoyl lactylate, DATEM and mono- and diglycerides. To finish it off, the bread concoction is riddled with salt, sugar, wheat gluten and soy lecithin.

And this is only the McDonald’s buns.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.mcdonalds.com

http://www.nytimes.com

http://money.msn.com

http://science.naturalnews.com

McDonald's Stands By Meat Supplier Amid Shanghai Food Scandal
_http://www.activistpost.com/2014/07/mcdonalds-stands-by-meat-supplier-amid.html#more

One of the latest food scares has rocked Shanghai, China and the restaurant chains serving patrons there. Recent revelations have also rocked trust in the processed food system. A TV report on Sunday showed workers at a branch of Shanghai Husi Food Co Ltd, owned by Illinois-based OSI Group, using expired meats and those that had fallen on the floor.

Yesterday, five people connected to the company were arrested and detained by Shanghai police. Yum Brands Inc which owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut have cut ties with the company. Starbucks pulled away too, after having to recall its apple-chicken panini sandwiches from its Chinese chains. Hong Kong has just banned importation of OSI's products.

But this food system issue has implications for the U.S. as well.

McDonald's had said previously to Reuters, "If proven, the practices outlined in the reports are completely unacceptable to McDonald's anywhere in the world."

However, it looks as though they have changed their tune. Or at least, there's a caveat. On Tuesday, they said they were no longer serving food from the primary Husi facility, but...

Chicago Tribune has reported:

“According to OSI, Chinese authorities have inspected Husi’s other facilities, allowing us to confidently serve our customers,” the world's largest hamburger chain said in a statement.

Oak Brook-based [Illinois] McDonald’s said it sourced chicken, beef, pork and lettuce from Shanghai Husi. Now, it plans to get such items from Husi’s “new state-of-the-art facility” in Henan.

An imaginary camera zooms in on a random McDonald's patron who says, "Aw! I just ate there last week, man!"

In other words, this could be the first time people are realizing where their fast food actually comes from. And without really saying it, it sounds like McD's just admitted to serving expired, dirty meat to U.S. customers. Measures were taken to seal and block meat upon revelation, but how long had expired floor-meats been used? McDonald's feels "a bit deceived"? What about the people eating it?

This time it'll be different, right?

McDonald's is standing by OSI and its new facility in China, putting faith in current inspections. Why? OSI is basically "made for" McDonald's because the group is the fast-food chain's biggest supplier. And how would the world's biggest fast food chain suddenly cut off its biggest supplier? Yum Brands and Starbucks didn't really utilize OSI supplies that much.

Unfortunately, some former employees of OSI branches have alleged similar unclean working conditions in Illinois. One employee alleged cow hair, sweat, spit and chewed gum going into the vats.

Last Fall, the USDA lifted bans on Chinese processed chicken imports. Chicken produced here can be shipped to China for processing and then sent back to the states. Oddly, it remains a cheap process. And the imports aren't really inspected. It gets worse - the USDA doesn't plan on having on-site inspections or use inspectors for U.S. chicken, but will take the word of poultry processor employees. Why? It speeds things up and saves money.

Are these more signs that a top-heavy processed food system in the U.S. is about to topple?
 
angelburst29 said:
Are these more signs that a top-heavy processed food system in the U.S. is about to topple?

It's about time for the producers of "frankenfoods" to face up to the fact, that their products are not "food", but toxic waste, and that all they are doing is reaping millions of dollars while poisoning the populace!

The worst thing I have seen is a McDonald's outlet in the entrance hall of the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia!

Now, that I call panache ...
 
Pashalis said:
Hope they ban MCDonald's in Russia as soon as possible...

Hope they ban "wacky D's" (as me & friends used to call it in our youth) full stop. Thing is, a lot of people know about the junk in junk food. They'll still eat 'em though. Like the (literal) plastic in Subway "breads"... with cheese!
 
Thank you for sharing, i hope too that McDonald's will be banned in Russia and maybe in China also.
 
Thanks for sharing angelburst29. I do hope that McDonalds and other fast food chains will at least get the same treatment they currently give to tobacco.

It's good to see that some countries are facing up to the truth and doing something about it. This won't happen without consequences though, especially given that many of these companies come from the world's biggest bully, the US. I wonder if the latest $50bn sanction imposed by a court in The Hague on Russia for seizing Yukos assets is one such example.
 
Add Wendy's to the list:

Wendy’s Pulls Out of Russia After Franchisee Change
_http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-28/wendy-s-pulls-out-of-russia-after-franchisee-change.html

Wendy’s Co., the third-biggest U.S. fast-food hamburger chain, is leaving the Russian market after three years, after a change in the local franchisee’s management.

The country’s eight Wendy’s outlets are being shut down, Bob Bertini, a spokesman for Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy’s said by e-mail. Wenrus Restaurant Group, a former unit of Moscow-based Food Service Capital, agreed in 2010 to open 180 restaurants under the format across Russia within a decade. There was a change in Wenrus’s ownership and management in the past year, and the decision to leave the country had nothing to do with politics, Bertini said.

“Unfortunately, the new leadership of Wenrus has not expressed interest in growing Wendy’s business in Russia, nor shown they have the resources to successfully operate the existing restaurants on a long-term basis,” Bertini said. “As a result, we have decided not to continue business in Russia at this time.”

Muscovites have been getting a taste of American fast food since 1990, when McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) opened its first restaurant there. While McDonald’s has about 430 restaurants across Russia and Burger King Worldwide Inc. (BKW), Subway Restaurants and Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM) have entered the market, as of last year the country had only one restaurant per 930 people, compared with one per 150 in the U.S., according to Business Analytica research company.

Chili’s Grill & Bar last year closed its flagship Moscow restaurant less than three years after it opened.
 
Coke saw a slight drop in second quarter Russian sales.

Coke pulls ads from 4 Russian TV channels, on ‘purely economic’ basis
_http://rt.com/business/178364-coke-cancels-ads-russian-tv/

Wednesday August 6, 2014

American beverage giant Coca-Cola says its decision to cancel advertising on four Russian state television channels is unrelated to sanctions.

Coca-Cola has pulled adverts from Ren-TV, Channel Five, Home, and Star, three out of the four are connected to Bank Rossiya, which the US sanctioned in March over Ukraine

The company has confirmed it will shift its consumer marketing efforts to other stations.

"These four channels are the least suited to the target audience for the brand Coca-Cola, so the advertiser has decided to reallocate budgets,” Yuri Borisov, an associate at MediaVest, told Kommersant.

“The Coca-Cola Company insists the decision is purely economic in nature, unrelated to the sanctions,” Russian business daily Kommersant reported, citing an unnamed source.

Coca-Cola is a large advertiser in Russia and spends about $70 million per year; major competitor PepsiCo spends $193 million a year by comparison.

Russian lawmakers are moving to do away with ads on state television, since people have in theory already paid for the right to the content.

Coke saw a slight drop in second quarter Russian sales, which is said to have played a role in the decision.


The second quarter results report for the distributor in Russia Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling showed the country was a key growth driver.

Russia “demonstrated solid growth dynamics” and has experienced 10 consecutive quarters of volume increase. In the second quarter, the company’s brand was boosted by 8 percent due to its sponsorship of the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

However, Russia’s weak ruble has caused the beverage company a big loss. In Russia and Ukraine, foreign exchange volatility is expected to reach €20-30 million by the end of the year.

Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling started operations in Russia in 2001 and serves 141 million customers, according to the company’s website. It sees the Russian non-alcoholic beverage market continuing its upward expansion, and just recently opened a new plant outside of Moscow with the capacity to produce 3 million liters of ready-to-drink product each day.

Coca-Cola Hellenic is one of the largest producers of non-alcoholic beverages in Russia, ranging from the Rich juice brand to licensed Nestea products.

The company operates bottling facilities in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Orel, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Volga, Yekaterinburg, Rostov, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk and Vladivostok, and has over 70 distribution centers in Russia.
 
Putin has the right idea - get rid of the fast food junk!

American's should take notice and avoid the fast food chains "synthetic creations" and re-discover real organic food.

Russia may impose additional tax on foreign fast-food
_http://rt.com/business/180612-fast-food-russia-taxed/

Friday August 15, 2014

Foreign fast-food companies should be additionally taxed, a Russian State Duma deputy has suggested. Igor Zotov said the money raised could go to improving the general health of the population.

Zotov’s bill would see a tax rise from 20 percent to 23 percent, which will increase the cost of fast-food, reduce customer demand, and contribute in the national budget, Izvestia reports.

Among the fast-food chains targeted are McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Subway, Starbucks, Papa John's and others.

The development of a more healthy population would include the money for health services, programs to create health groups, organization of sports activities, and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle.


About a half the diseases which affect Russians are due to poor nutrition, so the regulation of food standards at the state level is important, the Deputy said, adding that almost all regions suffer an overabundance of fast-food outlets.

Igor Zotov stressed the political implications, saying the increased tax become a sort of “peculiar sanctions against the United States and some European countries."

This is not the first attempt of deputies to tackle the fast-food industry.

A group of Russian deputies have previously suggested forcing the makers of hamburgers, french fries and sodas to put a mandatory health warning on their products, just like on cigarette packs.
 
It is interesting to observe those steps made by Russia considering "food&agriculture... Maybe there are traces o some kind of planned strategy to implement higher nutritional standards by Moscow - which shouldn't be to hard knowing poor requirements for food products "regulated" by EU... Maybe Step 1 was banning Monsanto; Step 2 - McDonald's investigation; Step 3 halting export from West&co using sanctions war as excuse... and final step - never again to allow "EU standardized" junk food products enter Russia...
 
skycsil said:
Go Russia! :cool:

Four Moscow McDonalds shut by Russian consumer watchdog (Video)
_http://rt.com/news/181676-mcdonalds-russia-suspend-operation/

Wednesday August 20, 2014

Russia’s consumer watchdog has shut down four McDonald's restaurants in central Moscow – including the first-ever outlet in the country – over “administrative violations.” More of the company 430 Russian franchises are under investigation.

“Multiple violations of sanitary norms were detected in the sourcing of food and waste disposal in McDonald’s restaurants during inspections carried out between the 18th and 20th of August,” said an official statement from the watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor.

The company has said that it will study the allegations against its franchises, and “will do everything to ensure that the restaurants open as soon as possible.”

“McDonald’s main priority is offering its customers quality and safe produce,” said a statement on the McDonald’s website.

Among the temporarily shuttered establishments is the restaurant in Pushkinskaya Square – once the biggest in the world – that became iconic when it opened in 1990 in what was still the Soviet Union, creating mile-long queues of Russians ready to wait several hours to sample the taste of America.

The first checks - and subsequent rumors that the entire burger chain may be shut down - took place in the northwestern city of Veliky Novgorod in May.

“The Caesar roll and vegetable salad have been found to contain microbe pollution with E.Coli bacteria and 10 times the safe level of microbes,” the watchdog said in a statement back then. ‘This attests to the fact that the staff breached personal hygiene rules, and the corporate sanitary disinfection regime.”

A separate claim from Rospotrebnadzor said that the nutrition sheets provided by the company did not match the actual content of the burgers on sale.

The burger chain – which is headquartered in Illinois, but sells its franchise licenses to Russian companies and individuals - employs over 35,000 staff, and retailed nearly $1.5 billion worth of food to customers in the country last year.

The shot across the bow – after nearly 25 years of rapid expansion in Russia for the US company – comes amidst an escalation of sanctions between Moscow and the West. After Washington and Brussels imposed restrictions on financial lending and technological imports for Russian companies due to the conflict in eastern Ukraine earlier this month, Russia responded by embargoing agricultural produce from Europe and the US for one year.
 
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