Many were excited when McDonald’s recently announced, “The McRib is back.” The question is whether it is really back or really a McRib. In an interesting decision out of Chicago, U.S. District Judge April Perry ruled that McDonald’s must go to trial on a class action lawsuit alleging that the popular McRib sandwich is made with non-rib meat. The lawsuit alleges that McDonald’s merely shapes the meat to look like ribs but uses shoulder, heart, tripe, or stomach — making it sound more like McHaggis. McDonald’s vehemently denies the accusation and stands by its representation that the only ingredients are “pork, water, salt, dextrose, and rosemary extract.” The class action was filed under an array of tort, fraud, and misrepresentation theories. In the end, however, the impact on McDonald’s could have the same business impact that the “pink slime” stories had on Taco Bell.
The ruling comes just three days after the McRib’s return to McDonald’s menus across the country. It first debuted in 1981.
The complaint alleges:
“Despite its name and distinctive shape—its meat patty has been deliberately crafted to resemble a rack of pork ribs—the McRib does not contain any actual pork rib meat at all. Instead, its meat patty is reconstructed using ground-up portions of lower-grade pork products such as, inter alia, pork shoulder, heart, tripe, and scalded stomach.” It alleges that McDonald’s uses the deceptive advertising to sell over 30 million such sandwiches each year. It also includes surveys showing that 72% of purchasers of McRibs expected that the product contains rib meat, which is more expensive than these other alleged meats.”
The class action was filed with sixteen original courts alleging fraud, implied warranty, false advertising, consumer protection violations, and misrepresentation claims. It also alleges a breach of express warranty under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) § 2-313. The court dismissed most of these claims but allowed consumer-deception, fraud, and unjust-enrichment claims to proceed.
Perry rejected McDonald’s claim that this is merely a trademarked name and does not allow for such liability, noting that other McDonald’s products, such as the McChicken and Egg McMuffin, describe their ingredients.
The shape of the McRibs featured prominently in the complaint, though the company will argue that people understand that it is obviously manufactured since there are no bones in the meat. However, the judge found that the McRib’s shape could support the consumers’ claim that McDonald’s presentation created a misleading impression about the meat they were buying.
The key to the ruling is that, at this pre-trial stage when facts are read in favor of the non-moving party (the class action) on a motion to dismiss, the court cannot find that there is no possibility for the class members to prevail. She is giving them a trial to prove their case.
For McDonald’s, it is a major blow since attention to the lawsuit will inevitably drive down sales. The company denies the accusations, but consumers may be a bit skittish about the whole barbecued tripe thing.
Regardless of the outcome, the public response could present the same pressures as the “pink slime” Taco Bell controversy, which led companies (including McDonald’s) to discontinue the use of lean, finely textured beef (LFTB) despite a defamation lawsuit by the beef people. Notably, ABC/Disney entered into a $177 million settlement over the story, but LFTB never recovered from the pink slime coverage.
McDonald’s will, of course, have its chance to prove its case in court, but in the interim, some customers may not be “Lovin’ It.”
The food business is vulnerable
I knew a woman who perfected the “slip and fall” scheme to such a degree that she made a living from the big food stores, especially in winter when ice hadn’t been cleared from the sidewalk in front of the stores. She was a Pro, never went to court to get paid!
They should have marketed the product as Italian and named it “McLampredotto”, and modeled it after the breakfast street food delicacy of cow’s stomach in a roll (lampredotto) favored by the citizens of Florence, Italy.
I am one of those who actually like the McRib Sandwich which is a very pleasant change of their usual fare.
Did I ever think it was actual Pork Rib Meat….nope….but then I never thought their Hamburgers were high grade beef either. My latest stop at a Burger King convinced me their Hamburgers were not even made of meat.
I am old school…if the seller provides a product that people like…they have a win….and if they find that same product provides only a temporary “win” then that product goes away.
In this case…well let’s say situation….I would love to be on the Jury.
The Plaintiffs would lose….they would have to pay their own legal bills…and I would request a McRib for the Court provided Lunch for Jurors.
There are real issues that need attention….Micky D’s selling McRibs is not one of them….and the Judge should make a quick lunch out of this ludicrous complaint.
For the record…I only hit Micky D’s for a drive thru window purchase of three hamburgers and an order of fries….as my Labrador Retriever loves those hamburgers….I like the fries….and a hot coffee makes the drive better.
I choose that for the convenience and darn tooting not for the quality of the food or the coffee.
You do get what you pay for at such places.
Thanks to Covid and all of the closures of eating places due to the over-reaction of government….I got used to packing my own lunch and carrying a couple of thermos jugs with hot coffee….fast food joints fell off my list of stops.
The only drawback to that plan was the lack of sanitary sites for the depositing of stuff….but then upon reflection that was not much of a loss considering the usual hygiene standard one finds in such places these days!
McDonalds made over $55 billion once they figured out how to scald pig stomachs and not coffee drinkers. Farmers like Upstate make bacon out of half of the pig and sell the other half to make McRibs.
Ah, no.
You use the pork belly to make bacon, which is NOT half of a hog.
We have some clients who want things like the heart, kidneys. Never had anyone ask for the stomach.
Why would I sell half a hog of prime cuts like pork chops, picnic ham, Boston Butt to McDonald’s who would only pay pennies on the dollar? Even stew cuts would cost more.
Ah, yeah. It is ultra-processed, formed and pressed into the “shape” of a rib cut, but has no “bones.” IIRC the “grill marks” are also processed and formed on the “meat.”
How could anyone think there was any actual rib “meat” in that?
As to the other “cuts” yeah, no thanks!
You just quoted Turley.
In PT article, where did he use the word, “ultra-processed?” “Formed?” “Grill marks?”
Is that what you call quoting someone?
Upstate, perhaps you are just the person to answer this. What does “ultra-processed” mean? How does it differ from “processed”?
garyesq2k2,
I am glad you asked.
For the fastest definition: https://world.openfoodfacts.org/nova
For a bit more nuanced: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/what-are-ultra-processed-foods
I would like to point one thing out; Go to your local grocery store bacon and hot dog section. Note, some will claim, “No Nitrates or Nitrites Added” with a * or ** added at the end. Look at the ingredients. You will see CULTURED CELERY JUICE or CULTURED CELERY POWDER listed.
Celery is a natural source of nitrite. Manufactures can claim the “No Added” part as the nitrites are naturally occurring. Not separate added product. It is a load of crap. Back in the day, when the organic movement was first forming, Big Ag went into a panic with what the organic movement was proposing as “organic.” So, they lobbied/highjacked the movement to include a bunch of crap to get around the real organic label.
Some hot dog manufactures add so much salt or celery juice/powder, some people have lower GI issues later. I am one of them. So, when I make my own hot dogs, I use about 8% less of the curing salts. Still tastes great, still preserves the meat, not so harsh on the body.
Commercial deli meats gets the same “ultra-processed” label. Technically it is true, but you can make your own deli meat at home and be much better than the commercial stuff. Same goes for bacon. Just DONT burn the bacon. Burning the bacon turns the nitrates into a carcinogen. Cooked till just crisp and you are fine.
Hope this helps!
Why don’t you have a website like https://katzsdelicatessen.com/pastrami
It’s likely that McDonalds and legal counsel are working to a litigation budget that has a lot of and- gates that include defense costs at conclusion of trial court work at the pleadings stage. My curiosity runs to what that budget may say about arbitration and class determination. I say that on the premise that some number of the class may have clicked themselves out of the class in court by obtaining the litigated food online with a compulsory arbitration clause. One broad enough to include both a DoorDash and a McDonalds.
This is ironic…suing a corporation for alleged false advertizing while men in dresses are constantly and falsely calling themselves women.
You can’t have it both ways.
Either identity is absolute or it varies with the identifier.
For all we know, that McRibb truly believes that it is a pork rib.
Men in dresses and a McRib huh? You are onw bizarre b*tch.
As a degreed historian of 50+ years, I have been trained to see connections and associations where the average guy may gloss right over it in his ignorance of things. If you are narrowly tuned to only see hate in conservatives, that is all you will ever see. You always seem to miss the grand picture because your vision is so constricted by hate.
Bizarre PSYCHO ANON!!
“non-rib meat” Read the fine print – Buy All Beef Kosher Meat
we do, it is clean beef, you know what you are getting.
Anyone who eats at McDonalds deserves whatever is sold to them.
that’s true, who knows what goes into the chicken nuggets that only “identifies” a chicken meat.
Do you remember the famous “Parts is Parts” line from a Chicken Tenders Ad of some time ago?
The ingredient list included “Chicken Parts.” When asked what kind of parts the server responded’: “Parts is Parts!”
Maybe that should be: “Pork Parts!”
The idiots have taken over: Fools believing a “McRib” is the real thing! I imagine the “Filet-O-Fish” is next on the docket. This sounds like a “Marc” Elias case.
well, Ms. Fish you raise a fair question. Would those defending McD’s by saying you can’t really expect McRib to be made of rib meat, defend the company if filet-o-fish turned out not to have any actual fish in it? If they were to offer a McSnapper sandwich would it be OK for it to be made of pollock?
No, if it had no fish in it that would be fraud, but there is no problem with the fact that it isn’t an actual fillet. The term “fish fillet” can mean an actual piece of filleted fish, but it can also mean a patty of minced fish formed into a uniform shape and breaded.
The really big payoffs come when government join with favored law firms in pursuing class actions suits against companies. Ostensibly pursuing these suits on behalf of the public interest, the people get nothing, the law firms and governments get a big payday.
It is a McRib, which is no more a rib than a McMansion is a Mansion.
But, if it “identifies” as a genuine pork rib – are we to argue with it????
“Holy ‘Where’s the rib-gate’, Batman!!”
The tyranny of the class action plaintiffs’ bar to extort money. They will ALWAYS find someone aggrieved to be the named plaintiffs which, oddly enough, were not named anywhere in this article or others I read. It’s always “the plaintiffs allege…”
Such utter nonsense. No reasonably prudent adult would expect a “McRib” to be real in 2026. As a senior lay American male who is a ‘worse’ but not ‘worst’ case scenario of multiple medically unrecognized food allergies, medically unrecognized FDA approved food poisoning and excessive related/resultant medical errors who’s been battling FDA approved food poisoning for forty-five years and counting with only limited successes, I’d be happy if I knew it was safe to ingest. What all fast food customers should be concerned with is whether it contains common allergen soy with some hexane residue, the cooking oil preservative tBHQ (e.g., french fries, minimally) and/or added artificially cultured “free” (can cross the blood brain barrier) MSG (e.g., “natural flavor,” minimally). Years ago I tried to get one of several national law firms to represent me against the FDA; no takers. Knowing what I know from personal experience and official statistics, I expect another 5,000 to 6,000 unsuspecting, mostly elderly and frail, Americans (minimally, going/gone global with the so-called “Western Diet”) to die prematurely today again from cheaply and easily avoided chronic diseases. More: https://odysee.com/@charlesgshaver:d?view=about
We’ll call a wahhhmbulance for you.
Robert Monday, 11/2/26 at 9:51 AM: medical error is the third leading cause of death in the US, behind only heart disease and cancers; what you don’t know can not only hurt you (minimally) it can kill you. You might want to take a look at my mission statement, linked to above. CGS
I haven’t eaten anything from a fast food restaurant in years. I would rather spend the last 20 years of my life in relative good health than enjoy 5 minutes of eating fast food. No seed oils for me, no additives, no chemical wizardry to extend shelf live until the next millennium. Just whole, fresh food from sources that I can see.
Hamburgers are not ham. Hot dogs are not made from dog. Won’t any lawyer help me cash the check?
Good one.
What’s next? French fries aren’t from France? I’m hiring Green and Fazio:
People who believe that the McRib is real rib meat also believe in the Easter Bunny.
There are no actual shamrocks in the Shamrock Shake, either.
I’m waiting xfor the class action suit against every grocer who sells, “country style ribs,” knowing full well it is segments of pork shoulder.
Same stupid crap we saw with Subways foot long sandwich. Taco Bells ‘meat mixture”. Boneless chicken wings being breast meat.
The three didn’t end with consumers receiving a damages payout:
Subway “Footlong”: A settlement was initially approved that included $500 for each of 10 named plaintiffs and up to $520,000 in attorneys’ fees, but the Seventh Circuit overturned it, ruling that it offered no meaningful benefit to the class. So that proposed money arrangement did not stand as a final settlement.
Taco Bell “meat mixture”: The firm dropped the lawsuit; Taco Bell said no money changed hands.
Boneless wings made from breast meat: The customer sought damages, but the judge dismissed the case, finding the “boneless wings” label wasn’t plausibly deceptive. No damages were awarded; he was allowed to try amending the complaint. I am totally shocked some guy was not in the kitchen pulling the bones out of jointed wings! (sarc)
What a waste of time and court resources.
the plaintiffs should have to pay all laywer and court costs
The good professor’s reference to haggis prompts the question: do you really want to know what is in the recipe for Costco hot dogs?
Yeah, dead dogs.
Wow, McDonald’s for the win, again (remember the hot coffee payout?). Do people that, as a class, have time to prioritize this and expend the energy to be indignant actually have any real world problems? We are very spoiled McPeople.
Its not about angry consumers and a piece of meat. McD knows if it looses such claims can and will impact their business model and reputation. Someone sues because the lettuce is brown, the bacon doesn’t taste like bacon, the egg yolk is runny, even… I don’t the looks of it, etc… Spoiled no, just insane. And it’s all about the money. If McD wins, it will, what will they cook up next? Roadkill sandwiches w/o the roadkill.
Do you know the entire story of how that case ended up before a jury that was so incensed by McDonalds’ arrogance? If you did, you might look at that case a little differently.
The dame who filed suit over the coffee had 3d degree burns.
X 8.04 AM, Because she was stupid enough to put the hot coffee between her thighs while driving a car. You might as well sit on a roll of firecrackers. It was a stupid act then and still one of the best pieces of evidence for stupidity. I don’t deny the injuries but she should have had to pay for her injuries.
And she was wearing hot pants, if I remember correctly, so the coffee cup touched her legs skin directly. Indeed, she was stupid. In most legal systems, such a case would be dismissed, but in the US you can get awarded large amounts of money. The standard used to be the understanding of the average person. Now, everything has to be made moron proof. There was stroller with the text: remove child before folding. It would be funny if it were not so sad.
Class actions and punitive damages are abusive in their results and should be banned. Class actions hardly provide any monetary justice for the victims but certainly make the attorneys very rich.
No, it wasn’t stupid. No ordinary person heats hot liquid to such a temperature that it would ever generate 3d degree burns.
What are you talking about? People boil water for tea, coffee, hot chocolate and other drinks every day.
Even toddlers learn very early in life that coffee is served hot.
You put it in your mouth. No, it doesn’t give you 3d degree burns. Stop being a dyspeptic idiot.
You resort to ad hominem name calling because you can not logically or rationally defend your position.
Back when the incident occurred coffee was usually served “hot” in America. EVERYONE understood that.
So the fact is the plaintiff voluntarily chose to order a hot drink; knew, or should have known, it was “hot”; made the decision to put that hot drink between their legs while driving. The plaintiff knew, or should have known, placing a hot drink between your legs while driving will increase the chance the drink will spill and cause burns. Therefore, litigant assumed the potential risk of burns.
After the plaintiff’s actions did, in fact, result in skin burn – which was an entirely foreseeable risk – they regret the consequences of their stupid decision.
It is perfectly rational to assume that litigant is not the first person to spill hot McDonald’s coffee on themselves. Others likely realized they made poor or careless decision and choose to accept the consequences. This plaintiff found a greedy lawyer willing to degrade themselves and sue a “deep pocketed” defendant.
Very well said. Bravo for putting the blame in the right lap.
“No ordinary person heats hot liquid to such a temperature that it would ever generate 3d degree burns.”
Except for the entire coffee industry.
The ideal temperature for brewing coffee is about 200 degrees F. Water at 150 degrees can cause 3rd degree burns in about 2 seconds.
DD is right. She was stupid, and got rewarded for her stupidity.
The coffee victim’s use of her crrotch as a cup holder was foreseeable, as i recall.