MOSCOW, February 28 - RIA Novosti. The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow will hear on March 15 the questioning of experts who studied products sold at McDonald's upon the Consumer Rights Protection Societys request.
The lawsuit was filed after the examination of products sold at McDonald's. The society learned that products such as milkshakes, chicken nuggets, sauces, ice cream and shrimps do not comply with state standards.
The society noted that chicken nuggets, shrimps and blackberry pies do not contain the appropriate information about their ingredients, weight and compliance with regulatory documents. Milkshakes were found to contain vegetable fat.
Meanwhile, McDonald's Quality Control Director Irina Korshunova, who testified at the trial, said milkshakes "only contain milk fat, not vegetable fat."
The plaintiffs expect to modify their claims and to oblige McDonald's to indicate the expiration date on its products.
Korshunova could not specify the expiration date of the food products sold at McDonald's. However, she noted that it is assumed that hamburgers, milkshakes and other food products would be eaten immediately after purchase.
The plaintiff maintains that McDonald's twice benefitted from "its privileged position following the court's decision that actually recognized it a food store chain." In July 2011, the Moscow District Federal Commercial Court ruled that McDonald's in Russia has the right to pay VAT tax at the rate of 10 percent, just as a normal food store.
McDonald's operates about 300 fast food restaurants in Russia and is reported to serve over 1 million people annually in the country.