According to Islamic law, food must be prepared within the criteria of “halal.” Primarily, this refers to the way that meat is killed and prepared.
There were only two McDonald’s restaurants in the United States that offered halal products and both were in east Dearborn.
But the two branches were accused in 2011 of selling non-halal products that were advertised as halal and a lawsuit ensued.
The case was settled this past April.
Niraj Warikoo reported for the Detroit Free Press on how the $700,000 settlement was divvied up:
A $700,000 settlement was reached in April that allocated $275,000 to the Huda Clinic, a Muslim health center in Detroit; $150,000 to the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, and $25,000 to Ahmed Ahmed, a Dearborn Heights man who filed the lawsuit against McDonald’s. The rest went to attorney fees. McDonald’s denied any wrongdoing in the settlement agreement, which made no mention of stopping the sale of halal food. Some Muslims didn’t like the settlement, saying the money should have gone to individual customers, not organizations.
Now, the two McDonald’s will not offer Halal Chicken McNuggets and the Halal McChicken. Presently, only McDonald’s in Muslim-majority countries – such as Saudi Arabia – continue to carry halal products.
- Julia Field, Michigan Radio Newsroom
