A California man is seeking $5 million compensation after filing a lawsuit on McDonald's over its mozzarella sticks. He claims that the fast food's mozzarella sticks do not contain real cheese.
Chris Howe, a resident of Riverside County, California, filed a class-action lawsuit on McDonald's in the U.S. Federal Court on January 29 over false advertising of its mozzarella cheese sticks. Buzzfeed reported that McDonald's advertised the cheese sticks as containing pure mozzarella and 100% real cheese which the plaintiff claimed to be false. Instead of cheese, the mozzarella sticks are filled more with a substance made of starch.
The lawsuit accused McDonald's of releasing deceptive advertisements that misled consumers into buying an adulterated product. It claimed that the fast food violated several federal laws on advertising and corporate transparency to apparently make more profits and save on expenses.
According to Fox News, Howe is asking for $5 million as monetary compensation for him and for all customers that have been deceived into buying the mozzarella sticks with fake cheese. The lawsuit indicated that McDonald's charges $1.29 for 3 pieces of mozzarella cheese sticks.
Howe said that he ordered mozzarella sticks from a McDonald's branch in Rancho Mirage, California on December 24. However, he said he would not have bought them had he knew that the product was adulterated.
In the lawsuit, Howe showed a diagram showing that the cheese inside the sticks contained 3.76% starch in weight. He said that starch was used as filler because it can hold moisture. By using more starch, McDonald's reduced the amount of cheese by replacing it with a cheaper ingredient called water.
McDonald's strongly denied the allegations, claiming that they use 100% low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese on the sticks. The Desert Sun stated that other customers were not surprised by the claims against the restaurant. A customer named Tim Ollom said that he would order the mozzarella cheese sticks again because they taste good.
Customers previously complained on social media about the hollowness of McDonald's mozzarella sticks. However, the fast food restaurant said that the cheese only melted out during baking and should not have been served to customers. McDonald's management said that they are fixing the issue.
