(image: McDonald’s Korea)
SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — U.S. fast-food chain McDonald’s, embroiled in a controversy over alleged undercooked hamburger patties, has filed a court injunction seeking to ban the disclosure of the result of a consumer agency’s probe, the agency said Tuesday.
The Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) originally planned to publish a press release the same day on the outcome of its investigation of the hygiene conditions of hamburgers circulated in the local market, but canceled the plan as McDonald’s filed an injunction Monday.
The agency launched the investigation after a number of local consumers filed legal complaints against the U.S. fast-food chain, claiming they suffered foodborne diseases after eating McDonald’s hamburgers.
According to the KAC’s investigation, no enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, known to cause hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), was found in any of the 38 hamburgers sold in six local fast-food chains, including McDonald’s, and five convenience stores. Yet, the agency is known to have found Staphylococcus aureus above the standard level in one hamburger from McDonald’s.
The fast-food chain, however, said the KAC failed to meet all required conditions in the course of transferring the hamburger to the hygiene test.
The court is scheduled to deliver its ruling on Thursday.
(Yonhap)
