McDonald's pays out $700k to Muslims after falsely saying its food was halal

• Two McDonald's restaurants in Detroit advertise halal Chicken McNuggets and McChicken sandwiches
• But a Muslim customer claims to have been served a non-halal meal in 2011
  
• McDonald's and Finley's Management have agreed preliminary settlement
• Detroit has one of America's largest Arab and Muslim communities
  

By Suzannah Hills

Published: 08:13 EDT, 22 January 2013 | Updated: 04:45 EDT, 23 January 2013

McDonald's has paid out $700,000 to members of the Muslim community after one of its franchise restaurants in Michigan falsely advertised its food had been prepared according to Islamic dietary laws.

A Muslim Detroit resident, Ahmed Ahmed, claimed he bought a chicken sandwich in September 2011 at a Dearborn McDonald's but found it was not halal - meaning it did not meet Islamic requirements for preparing food.

The restaurant is one of two in Dearborn which sells halal products to cater for an area with one of the nation's largest Arab and Muslim communities.

Settlement: A Muslim customer claimed he was served a non-halal meal at this McDonald's in Ford Road, Dearborn, Michigan, where they advertise halal Chicken McNuggest and McChicken sandwiches 

Mr Ahmed then approached lawyer Kassem Dakhlallah who together conducted an investigation before launching a class-action lawsuit on the ground the franchise sold non-halal food 'on many occasions'.

McDonald's and Finley's Management agreed to the tentative $700,000 (£442,000) settlement, with the money to be shared by Mr Ahmed, a Detroit health clinic, the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn and lawyers.

Ahmed's attorney, Mr Dakhlallah, said that he is 'thrilled' with the preliminary deal that's expected to be finalised on March 1.

Halal approved: Chicken McNuggets and McChicken sandwiches are two of the dishes served at the Detroit restaurant that are advertised as being halal

McDonald's and Finley's Management deny any liability but say the settlement is in their best interests.

The Detroit area is home to about 150,000 Muslims of many different ethnicities and the two McDonald's branches advertise that they exclusively sell halal Chicken McNuggets and McChicken sandwiches.

THE RULES OF HALAL MEAT

Islam dietary guidelines state that meat must be prepared in a certain way before it can be eaten.

Allah's name must be pronounced over the meat as thanks during the slaughter process, which can only be done with a swift incision to the animal's throat.

The animal must then be allowed to drain of blood as it is considered harmful for humans to consume.

The animal must never see another being slaughtered nor can it see the blade being sharpened.

Halal literally means 'permissable' in Arabic and is used to describe types of actions that are acceptable under Islamic law.

So when referring to food, Halal meat means food that has been prepared in accordance with the laws of Islam.

They have to get those products from an approved halal provider where God's name has been invoked before an animal providing meat for consumption is slaughtered.

He said there was no evidence of problems on the production side, but Mr Dakhallah alleges that the Dearborn location on Ford Road sold non-approved products when it ran out of halal.

Mr Dakhlallah said he was approached by Mr Ahmed over the issue, and they conducted an investigation.

A letter sent to McDonald's and Finley's Management by Mr Dakhlallah's firm said Mr Ahmed had 'confirmed from a source familiar with the inventory' that the restaurant had sold non-halal food 'on many occasions'.

After they received no response to the letter, Mr Dakhlallah said, they filed a lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court in November 2011 as part of a class action.

In the settlement notice, Finley's Management said it 'has a carefully designed system for preparing and serving halal such that halal chicken products are labelled, stored, refrigerated, and cooked in halal-only areas'.

The company added it trains its employees on preparing halal food and 'requires strict adherence to the process'.

He said although Mr Ahmed believes McDonald's was negligent, there was no evidence that the chain set out to deceive customers.

'McDonald's from the very beginning stepped up and took this case very seriously,' Mr Dakhlallah said.

'They made it clear they wanted to resolve this. They got ahead of the problem.'