McDonald's has said it is sorry about any confusion surrounding its use of beef flavouring in the production of its french fries in the US, a practice that has angered Hindus and vegetarians.
The fast-food giant has acknowledged that a small amount of beef flavouring is added to its french fries during potato processing before they are shipped to restaurants across the US.
Hindus, who consider cows sacred, have expressed surprise, as McDonald's announced in 1990 its restaurants would no longer use beef fat in cooking french fries and that only pure vegetable oil would be used.
McDonald's says it never claimed the fries it sells in the US were vegetarian.
A statement on the company's website reads: "Because it is our policy to communicate to customers, we regret if customers felt that the information we provided was not complete enough to meet their needs. If there was confusion, we apologise."
A lawsuit was recently filed in Seattle against McDonald's on behalf of two Hindus who do not eat meat and one non-Hindu vegetarian. They have asked that the suit be certified as a class action on behalf of any vegetarian who ate McDonald's fries after 1990 in the belief they contained no meat.
Earlier this month, a Hindu fundamentalist group in India vandalised a McDonald's restaurant in a Bombay suburb in protest at the use of the beef flavouring in US fries.
McDonald's says on its website it uses no beef or pork flavourings or ingredients in its French fries in Muslim countries. It also states that in India, where vegetarian concerns are paramount, no beef or pork flavourings are used in its vegetarian menu items.
PA