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By Root 1399 0

in the fries soon revealed, however, that McDonald’s was in fact using different ingredients in different countries. McDonald’s India assured customers and protesters that its fries were never cooked in oil containing animal products, a fact that Bombay health authorities later confirmed through chemical analysis. Nor was beef added to the fries at McDonald’s in Great Britain, a country with a sizeable Hindu population. The company was quietly adjusting its french fry recipe to suit varying cultural preferences and taboos. In Canada, Japan, Mexico, and Australia, McDonald’s still made fries the macho, old-fashioned way, cooking them in beef tallow.

In the United States, the McDonald’s Corporation took the highly unusual step of issuing an apology. “We regret if customers felt that the information provided [about the fries] was not complete enough to meet their needs,” the company said. “If there was confusion, we apologize.” The statement did not satisfy Harish Bharti or the other attorneys who’d filed class-action lawsuits on behalf of America’s 1 million Hindus and 15 million vegetarians. Bharti argued that “confusion” was the wrong word; McDonald’s had been lying to Hindus and vegetarians for years, telling them it used “100 percent vegetable oil” when it didn’t. Bharti refused to drop the lawsuit, hoping to punish McDonald’s for its insensitivity toward religious minorities and to teach it a lesson that other American companies would not ignore. “We apologize for any confusion,” a McDonald’s spokesman responded, “but again, we have never made any vegetarian claims about our french fries — never.”

Not long afterward, Bharti received a letter from a woman in Florida. The letter had been written on May 5, 1993, by a manager at McDonald’s Customer Satisfaction Department. The letter was a response to the woman’s inquiry. It said: “Thank you for contacting us regarding McDonald’s menu selections for vegetarians. We appreciate your thoughts, and hope the following information will interest you… we presently serve several items that vegetarians can enjoy at McDonald’s — garden salads, french fries and hash browns (cooked in 100 percent vegetable oil)…”

decline and fall

THE YEAR 2000 may some day be regarded as a milestone for the fast food industry. It may be remembered as the year that the leading chains began to unravel. According to NPD Foodworld, a market research firm, during 2000 the fast food industry did not gain any new customers in the United States. The stagnant sales preceded the headlines about mad cow disease and extended throughout most of the industry. Fewer people visited not only hamburger chains, but also pizza and Mexican food chains. Business did not improve in the first half of 2001. McDonald’s profits fell in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the United States. Customer traffic fell at Burger King restaurants worldwide. Burger King’s new french fries proved a marketing disaster and were scrapped, at a cost of more than $70 million. And its parent company, Diageo PLC, had to spend millions to keep some large Burger King franchisees afloat, while searching for ways to unload the chain.

Taco Bell — a brand that in many ways perfected the art of selling inexpensive, mass-produced, highly industrialized foods — has lately encountered some financial difficulties. In 1989 Taco Bell introduced a “K minus” program. The K stood for “kitchens”, which the chain strove to eliminate from its restaurants. Precooking the beef and the beans at central locations allowed Taco Bell to offer low prices, with most of the core menu items selling for less than a dollar. The strategy was a success during the 1990s, but eventually backfired, as Taco Bell gained a reputation for cheap, bland food. Sales at its company-owned restaurants fell by 9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2000, causing financial problems for as many as a thousand Taco Bell franchisees. Tricon Global Restaurants, the chain’s parent company, had to set aside millions of dollars to help struggling franchisees, and PepsiCo Inc. sent them early “soda-rebate