McDonald's agreed on Jan. 18 to pay $700,000 in a lawsuit settlement to members of the Muslim community after it was accused of falsely advertising food as being prepared according to Islamic dietary law, according to The Associated Press.

Dearborn Heights, Detroit, resident Ahmed Ahmed claimed that he bought a chicken sandwich in September 2011 from a Dearborn-located McDonald's but found the food was not halal. In other words, the sandwich did not meet with Islamic requirements for preparing food.

Islam forbids one to eat pork and G-d's name must be invoked before an animal is slaughtered for its meat. Ahmed's attorney, Kassem Dakhlallah, told the AP there are only two McDonald's in the United States that sell halal products and both are in Dearborn. The McDonald's in Dearborn advertises that they sell exclusively halal Chicken McNuggets and McChicken sandwiches that they get from an approved halal provider, Dakhlallah said. 

Ahmed turned to his lawyer and they investigated the matter. Dahlallah alleged that the Dearborn McDonald's on Ford Road sold non-halal products when it ran out of halal. 

A lettter sent to McDonald's Corp. and Finley's Management Co. by Dakhlallah's firm said Ahmed "confirmed from a source familiar with the inventory" that the restaurant sold non-halal food "on many occassions." When they received no response to the letter, Ahmed filed a lawsuit in November 2011 as part of a class action.

The franchise and one of its owners, Finley's Management Co., closed off on the settlement and the money will be shared with Ahmed, a Detroit health clinic, the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn and lawyers. The Friday settlement was a preliminary deal and will be finalized on March 1. 

McDonald's and Finley's Management denied any liability but said the settlement is in their best interests, the AP noted. The lawsuit covers anyone who bought halal-advertised products from the Ford Road restaurant and another Dearborn McDonald's between September 2005 and last Friday, Jan. 18. Since those numbers would be impossible to determine, Dakhlallah said both sides agreed to provide money to community-based charities that benefit members of the Islamic group. The final hearing in March will determine who gets what and how much.  

Finley's Management said in a settlement notice it "has a carefully designed system for preparing and serving halal" and that employees are trained and required to strict adherence in the process.

"McDonald's from the very beginning stepped up and took this case very seriously," Dakhlallah said. "They made it clear they wanted to resolve this. They got ahead of the problem."

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