Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 14, 1990 TAG: 9004140326
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A2 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
McDonald's Corp., in a sharply worded letter this week to more than two dozen major newspapers, scolded them for publishing an ad that accuses the fast-food chain of serving food that contributes to "the poisoning of America."
"The assertions contained in the advertisement are false and misleading," the company said in a four-page letter written by Joseph Califano, the former secretary of health, education and welfare who represents the chain. Without changes in the ad, the letter said, "any further publication . . . would be considered malicious."
The full-page ad, which appeared on April 4 in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post and other papers, contends that McDonald's "hamburgers have too much fat!" and calls on it and other fast-food chains to reduce their burgers' fat content to help people cut cholesterol levels. The ad says that McDonald's, unlike many other fast-food chains, uses beef tallow to cook its fries.
The letter disputes the ad's contention that a Big Mac and an order of McDonald's french fries contain a total of 25 grams of saturated fat, saying it is 30 percent to 65 percent lower.
- Newsday
by CNB