Judge Lets McRib Meat Claims Proceed

U.S. District Judge April Perry declined to dismiss the case in full, letting claims of consumer deception, fraud and unjust enrichment proceed. She dismissed five other claims without prejudice, leaving the plaintiffs able to pursue the surviving allegations without a ruling that McDonald’s broke the law.

Four consumers filed the proposed class action in December. They say the McRib’s name, appearance and promotion lead buyers to expect rib meat, and allege its patty is shaped to look like pork ribs despite containing none. Their claims also describe the sandwich as using pork products such as shoulder, heart, tripe and stomach.

Perry said the case was at an early stage, and that the allegations and consumer surveys made it premature to decide that buyers could not reasonably expect rib meat. One survey found 72% of respondents expected rib meat in the sandwich. A second found 67% said rib meat mattered to their purchase decision at least to a significant degree.

McDonald’s denies the claims and says the sandwich is made entirely from pork sourced from American farmers and suppliers. McDonald’s has also maintained that its patty contains no heart, tripe, or stomach treated by scalding. It argued that the ingredient list identifies pork as the main ingredient and that the McRib name does not deceive reasonable customers.

Perry rejected the company’s argument that its trademarked name protects it from the marketing claims, pointing to other menu names that describe ingredients. The lawsuit will continue on the claims the judge allowed to proceed.